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      First report of the bat fly species Basilia italica in Romania

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      Biodiversity Data Journal
      Pensoft Publishers

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          Abstract

          Bat flies are haematophagous ectoparasites, highly specialised to bats and are also considered to have vectorial potential for several pathogens like Bartonella spp. or Polychromophilus spp. In Romania, past studies mostly focused on the ectoparasitic fauna of cave-dwelling bats, listing the occurrence of 10 bat fly species in the country, with only scarce information on bat flies infesting crevice-roosting bat species. Here we report the occurrence of Basilia italica, a rare nycteribiid species infesting primarily forest-dwelling bats. This is the first country-record for Romania and also represents the easternmost occurrence of this species. Further studies are needed to evaluate the vectorial potential of B. italica.

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          Most cited references21

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          High host specificity of obligate ectoparasites

          Carl Dick (2007)
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            Bat flies: Obligate ectoparasites of bats

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              Molecular detection of vector-borne bacteria in bat ticks (Acari: Ixodidae, Argasidae) from eight countries of the Old and New Worlds

              Background Despite the increasingly recognized eco-epidemiological significance of bats, data from molecular analyses of vector-borne bacteria in bat ectoparasites are lacking from several regions of the Old and New Worlds. Methods During this study, six species of ticks (630 specimens) were collected from bats in Hungary, Romania, Italy, Kenya, South Africa, China, Vietnam and Mexico. DNA was extracted from these ticks and analyzed for vector-borne bacteria with real-time PCRs (screening), as well as conventional PCRs and sequencing (for pathogen identification), based on the amplification of various genetic markers. Results In the screening assays, Rickettsia DNA was only detected in bat soft ticks, whereas Anaplasma phagocytophilum and haemoplasma DNA were present exclusively in hard ticks. Bartonella DNA was significantly more frequently amplified from hard ticks than from soft ticks of bats. In addition to Rickettsia helvetica detected by a species-specific PCR, sequencing identified four Rickettsia species in soft ticks, including a Rickettsia africae-like genotype (in association with a bat species, which is not known to migrate to Africa), three haemotropic Mycoplasma genotypes in Ixodes simplex, and Bartonella genotypes in I. ariadnae and I. vespertilionis. Conclusions Rickettsiae (from both the spotted fever and the R. felis groups) appear to be associated with soft rather than hard ticks of bats, as opposed to bartonellae. Two tick-borne zoonotic pathogens (R. helvetica and A. phagocytophilum) have been detected for the first time in bat ticks. The present findings add Asia (China) to the geographical range of R. lusitaniae, as well as indicate the occurrence of R. hoogstraalii in South Africa. This is also the first molecular evidence for the autochthonous occurrence of a R. africae-like genotype in Europe. Bat haemoplasmas, which are closely related to haemoplasmas previously identified in bats in Spain and to “Candidatus Mycoplasma haemohominis”, are reported here for the first time from Central Europe and from any bat tick. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3303-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Biodiversity Data Journal
                BDJ
                Pensoft Publishers
                1314-2828
                1314-2836
                January 18 2021
                January 18 2021
                : 9
                Article
                10.3897/BDJ.9.e57680
                a95840d9-1ad0-4ce9-817c-7ef1dd308e4e
                © 2021

                http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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