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DIVERSITY OF BAT-ASSOCIATED LEPTOSPIRA IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON INFERRED BY BAYESIAN PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF 16S RIBOSOMAL DNA SEQUENCES

The role of bats as potential sources of transmission to humans or as maintenance hosts of leptospires is poorly understood. We quantified the prevalence of leptospiral colonization in bats in the Peruvian Amazon in the vicinity of Iquitos, an area of high biologic diversity. Of 589 analyzed bats, culture (3 of 589) and molecular evidence (20 of 589) of leptospiral colonization was found in the kidneys, yielding an overall colonization rate of 3.4%. Infection rates differed with habitat and location, and among different bat species. Bayesian analysis was used to infer phylogenic relationships of leptospiral 16S ribosomal DNA sequences. Tree topologies were consistent with groupings based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies. A diverse group of leptospires was found in peri-Iquitos bat populations including Leptospira interrogans (5 clones), L. kirschneri (1), L. borgpetersenii (4), L. fainei (1), and two previously undescribed leptospiral species (8). Although L. kirschenri and L. interrogans have been previously isolated from bats, this report is the first to describe L. borgpetersenii and L. fainei infection of bats. A wild animal reservoir of L. fainei has not been previously described. The detection in bats of the L. interrogans serovar Icterohemorrhagiae, a leptospire typically maintained by peridomestic rats, suggests a rodent-bat infection cycle. Bats in Iquitos maintain a genetically diverse group of leptospires. These results provide a solid basis for pursuing molecular epidemiologic studies of bat-associated Leptospira, a potentially new epidemiologic reservoir of transmission of leptospirosis to humans.

Received June 14, 2005. Accepted for publication July 22, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We thank the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales and the Ministerio de Agricultura of Peru for permits to capture and collect specimens; the Universidad de la Amazonia Peruana for permission to conduct fieldwork on their property; Texas Tech University for additional support; Victor Linares, Sixto Mananita, Cesar Ahuanari, and students from the Museo de Historia Natural de San Marcos (Lima, Peru) for collaborations in the field; Fabiola Diaz and Henry Vega for laboratory assistance; and Christopher Bloch for bat kidney specimens.

Financial support: This work was supported by the United States Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center (RO1 TW05860 and D43 TW007120). Ancillary support was provided by a research grant from the U.S. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center (RO1 AI49725).

^* Address correspondence to Joseph M. Vinetz, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0640, Cellular and Molecular Medicine East, Room 2052, La Jolla, CA 92093-0640. E-mail: jvinetz{at}ucsd.edu or Michael R. Willig, Ecology Program, Department of Biological Science and Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131. E-mail: michael.willig{at}ttu.edu

Authors’ addresses: Michael A. Matthias and Joseph M. Vinetz, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, Mail Code 0640, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0640, Telephone: 858-534-6604, Fax: 858-534-6020, E-mails: mmatthia{at}ucsd.edu and jvinetz{at}ucsd.edu. M. Mónica Díaz, Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Morona 448, Iquitos, Peru, Telephone: 51-65-242-226, E-mail: mmonicadiaz{at}arnet.com.ar. Michael R. Willig, Ecology Program, Department of Biological Science and Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, Telephone: 703-292-7197, Fax: 703-292-9064, E-mail: michael.willig{at}ttu.edu. Kalina J. Campos, Maritza Calderon, and Eduardo Gotuzzo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Correo Apartado 4314, Lima 100, Peru, Telephone: 51-1-482-3903, E-mails: kalina_cg{at}hotmail.com, mmcalderons{at}yahoo.es, and egh{at}upch.edu.pe. Victor Pacheco, Museo de Historia Natural, Apartado 140434, Lima 14, Peru, E-mail: vpachecot{at}unmsm.edu.pe. Robert H. Gilman, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room W5515, Baltimore, MD 21205, Telephone: 410-955-4195, E-mail: gilmanbob{at}yahoo.com.

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