Presence of Trypanosoma cruzi TcI and Trypanosoma dionisii in sylvatic bats from Yucatan, Mexico

Joel Israel Moo-Millan, Weihong Tu, Teresa de Jesús Montalvo-Balam, Martha Pilar Ibarra-López, Silvia Hernández-Betancourt, Irving Jesús May-Concha, Carlos Napoleón Ibarra-Cerdeña, Christian Barnabé, Eric Dumonteil, and Etienne Waleckx

Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 118, Issue 10, October 2024, Pages 659–665.

https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/trae023

Abstract

Background: Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, whose genetic structure is divided into six discrete typing units (DTUs) known as TcI-TcVI. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, information regarding the DTUs circulating in wild mammals is scarce, while this is important knowledge for our understanding of  T. cruzi transmission dynamics.

Methods: In the current study, we sampled wild mammals in a sylvatic site of the Yucatan Peninsula and assessed their infection with T. cruzi by PCR. Then, for infected mammals, we amplified and sequenced nuclear and mitochondrial T. cruzi genetic markers for DTU identification.

Results: In total, we captured 99 mammals belonging to the orders Chiroptera, Rodentia and Didelphimorphia. The prevalence of infection with T. cruzi was 9% (9/99; 95% CI [5, 16]), and we identified TcI in a Jamaican fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicensis. Moreover, we fortuitously identified Trypanosoma dionisii in another Jamaican fruit bat and detected an unidentified Trypanosoma species in a third specimen. While the latter discoveries were not expected because we used primers designed for T. cruzi, this study is the first to report the identification of T. dionisii in a bat from Yucatan, Mexico, adding to a recent first report of T. dionisii in bats from Veracruz, and first report of this Trypanosoma species in Mexico.

Conclusion: Further research is needed to enhance our knowledge of T. cruzi DTUs and Trypanosoma diversity circulating in wildlife in Southeastern Mexico.