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Trypanosomiasis in an Australian little red flying fox ( Pteropus scapulatus )
Author(s) -
Mackie JT,
Stenner R,
Gillett AK,
Barbosa A,
Ryan U,
Irwin PJ
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/avj.12597
Subject(s) - biology , trypanosomiasis , trypanosoma , haemolysis , zoology , sciurus , virology , pathology , immunology , ecology , medicine , habitat
Case report An adult female Australian little red flying fox ( Pteropus scapulatus) presented with icterus and anaemia. Examination of a blood smear revealed numerous trypanosomes 20.4–30.8 µm long with tapered ends. Necropsy and histological findings were consistent with trypanosome infection of lymphoid tissue and intravascular haemolysis. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated this trypanosome species to be genetically distinct and most similar to Trypanosoma minasense and Trypanosoma rangeli (with a genetic distance of 1% at the 18S rRNA locus for both). Conclusion To the authors’ knowledge this is the first report of a trypanosome infection associated with clinical disease in bats.