Detection of Leptospira species in bat cadavers, Czech and Slovak Republics

• Authors: SEIDLOVÁ Veronika; STRAKOVÁ Petra; KEJÍKOVÁ Romana; NEMCOVA Monika; BARTONIČKA Tomáš; SALÁT Jiří; DUFKOVÁ Lucie; ŠIKUTOVÁ Silvie; MENDEL Jan; MCKEE Clifton; ZUKAL Jan; PIKULA Jiří; RUDOLF Ivo
• Year of publication: 2022
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Emerging Microbes and Infections
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Science
• Web: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2022.2117095
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2022.2117095
• Keywords: Bats; Central Europe; emerging zoonoses; Leptospira; Myotis; Nyctalus
• Description: Kidney samples from 300 bat cadavers from the Czech and Slovak Republics were tested for Leptospira DNA using PCR and sequencing of three genes (lipL32, flab, and 16S ribosomal RNA). Overall detection rate was 4.7% and two bat species (Myotis myotis and Nyctalus noctula) were PCR-positive for at least one gene. Detected Leptospira sequences were similar to L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii, and included a potentially novel species related to L. weilii.