Epidemiological traits of the malaria-like parasite Polychromophilus murinus in the Daubenton's bat Myotis daubentonii.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The great diversity of bat haemosporidians is being uncovered with the help of molecular tools. Yet most of these studies provide only snapshots in time of the parasites discovered. Polychromophilus murinus, a malaria-like blood parasite, specialised on temperate-zone bats is a species that is being 'rediscovered'. This study describes the infection dynamics over time and between host sex and age classes.

Methods

For three years we followed the members of three breeding colonies of Myotis daubentonii in Western Switzerland and screened them for the prevalence and parasitemia of P. murinus using both molecular tools and traditional microscopy. In order to identify more susceptible classes of hosts, we measured, sexed and aged all individuals. During one year, we ad

SUBMITTER: Witsenburg F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4269171 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature