Schizotrypanumin British bats

Abstract

SUMMARYTwo species ofSchizotrypanum, T. (S.) dionisiiandT. (S.) vespertilionis, were identified from British bats. Laboratory studies on stocks of isolated trypanosomes from 5 species of bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, Nyctalus leisleri, N. noctula, Eptesicus serotinusandMyotis brandti) indicated that the predominant species wasT. d. dionisii. Collections and dissection of the bat bugCimex pipistrellifrom bat roosts revealed flagellate infection in a total of 12 out of 20 bugs; 7 of these bugs had metacyclic trypanosomes present.C. pipistrelliand the human bed bug,C. lectulariuswere reared in the laboratory and allowed to feed on wild-caught bats known to be infected withT. d. dionisii. Development occurred in both species ofCimex. Cimexspp. could be used to detect subpatentSchizotrypanuminfections by xenodiagnosis. This technique was used to test the parasitological status of bats collected in the wild or reared in captivity. On a single occasion an apparent transmission ofT. d. dionisiito an uninfected (by xenodiagnosis) laboratory reared bat was achieved. A stock ofSchizotrypanumisolated from a wild-caughtC. pipistrellicollected in aN. leisteriroost was identified by DNA buoyant density centrifugation asT. (S.) vespertilionis. AP. pipistrellusknown to be infected withT. d. dionisiiwas found to have cyst-like structures in thoracic skeletal muscle containing amastigotes. The study provided the strongest evidence yet thatC. pipistrelliis the vector ofSchizotrypanumin British bats.