Demodex carolliae in a colony of Seba's short-tailed bats (Carollia perspicillata): clinical, pathological and parasitological findings

Bats represent over 20% of the world's mammal population with over 1,400 identified species inhabiting all continents except Antarctica. Bats are of high ecological importance and play a key role in pollination, seed dispersal and insect control. Habitat degradation is a major threat to bat populations worldwide and over 200 species in 60 countries around the world are currently listed as endangered or vulnerable to extinction (www.iucnredlist.org). Seba's short-tailed bats (Carollia perspicillata) are New World leaf-nosed frugivorous bats of the order Chiroptera, family Phyllostomidae, native to Central and South America. These enigmatic mammals are popular in zoos worldwide and used in biomedical research [1]. While the role of bats as an important reservoir for zoonotic pathogens is well established, relatively little published literature is available on other diseases of bats [2,3]. Reported non-infectious diseases are dominated by anthropogenic threats including habitat loss, traumatic injuries, toxicoses, frequently related to environmental pollutants, and climate change-associated adverse environmental conditions such as high ambient temperatures, leading to multiple large-scale mortality events in recent years. Bats are susceptible to a range of important viral and bacterial infections, with the most impactful infectious disease being white-nose syndrome caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans [4,5]. This dermal pathogen has resulted in an estimated six million mortalities among North American bat populations within a decade since its first detection in 2006 [3]. Reports of other skin diseases are, however, limited and include eosinophilic dermatitis, alopecia, dermal depigmentation, frostbite, cutaneous nematodiasis and, rarely, poxviral dermatitis [3,6,7]. While numerous ectoparasites have been described in bats, literature on the small number associated with pathology is equally scant.

Mites of the genus Demodex are arthropods belonging to the class Arachnida, which are obligate commensals of the skin of many mammalian species. Over 120 species in at least 11 orders of wild and domestic mammals have been identified [[8], [9], [10]]. Although they are highly host-specific and not associated with disease when present in low numbers [11], extensive proliferation relating to changes in the host's skin immunity can be associated with severe or fatal disease. This study provides a detailed overview of the clinical and pathological features of Demodex infestation in 12 Seba's short-tailed bats from a zoo colony in Southern Germany and outlines the morphological and molecular characteristics of Demodex carolliae, the causative mite species.

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