Natural infections caused by Leishmania parasites in the Curaçaoan long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in northwestern Venezuela.

Growing evidence of bats carrying Leishmania parasites underlines their potential role as reservoirs or incidental hosts of these parasites. The presence of tegumentary lesions on the rostrum and thumbs of the Long-nosed Curaçaoan Bats (Leptonycteris curasoae), sampled during a population ecology study in a suburban area of northwestern Venezuela, led to an investigation of the potential occurrence of Leishmania parasites in the species in that location. Tissue samples from the noses and ears of ten individuals displaying rostrum lesions were examined using histopathology and molecular screening. Macroscopic examination of the nose and ear revealed the characteristic morphology of Leishmania tegumentary infections; however, at histological level, we did not detect presence of amastigotes inside phagosomes in the examined tissues. Presence of Leishmania parasites was analyzed in 10 tissue samples using PCR to amplify a 116 bp fragment of a conserved region of the Leishmania minicircle. Two samples (L and L7) tested positive, proving presence of Leishmania infections. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences Bat-PX861258 and Bat-PX861259 revealed that they both clustered with L. amazonensis, suggesting that this was the species present. This study provides the first morpho-anatomical and molecular evidence of Leishmania parasites in L. curasoae individuals in northwestern Venezuela, delineating the importance of infections found in wild animals with high vagility. Implications of these results in terms of the relationship between this species and Leishmania parasites are discussed and lines of further research are proposed.