Video_1_Case report: Filarial infection of a parti-coloured bat: Litomosa sp. adult worms in abdominal cavity and microfilariae in bat semen.MP4

• Main Authors: Jiri Pikula, Vladimir Piacek, Hana Bandouchova, Marie Bartlova, Sarka Bednarikova, Romana Burianova, Ondrej Danek, Petr Jedlicka, Sarka Masova, Monika Nemcova, Veronika Seidlova, Katerina Zukalova, Jan Zukal
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Animal Systematics and Taxonomy; Animal Physiology - Biophysics; Animal Physiology - Cell; Animal Physiology - Systems; Animal Behaviour; Animal Cell and Molecular Biology; Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology; Animal Immunology; Animal Neurobiology; Animal Physiological Ecology; Animal Structure and Function; Veterinary Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care; Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology; Veterinary Diagnosis and Diagnostics; Veterinary Epidemiology; Veterinary Immunology; Veterinary Medicine; Veterinary Microbiology (excl. Virology); Veterinary Parasitology; Veterinary Pathology; Veterinary Pharmacology; Veterinary Surgery; Veterinary Virology; Veterinary Sciences not elsewhere classified; Chiroptera; Vespertilio murinus; electroejaculation; semen quality parameters; semen-borne pathogens; filariasis; Wolbachia; Mite
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1284025.s001; https://figshare.com/articles/media/Video_1_Case_report_Filarial_infection_of_a_parti-coloured_bat_Litomosa_sp_adult_worms_in_abdominal_cavity_and_microfilariae_in_bat_semen_MP4/24172593

Background Filarial infections have been understudied in bats. Likewise, little is known about pathogens associated with the reproductive system in chiropterans. While semen quality is critical for reproductive success, semen-borne pathogens may contribute to reproductive failure. Methods For the first time we performed electroejaculation and used computer-assisted semen analysis to provide baseline data on semen quality in a parti-coloured bat (Vespertilio murinus). Results The semen quality values measured in the V. murinus male appeared high (semen concentration = 305.4 × 10 6 /mL; progressive and motile sperm = 46.58 and 60.27%, respectively). As an incidental finding, however, microfilariae were observed in the bat semen examined. At necropsy, eight adult filarial worms, later genetically identified as Litomosa sp., were found in the peritoneal cavity, close to the stomach, of the same particoloured bat male dying as a result of dysmicrobia and haemorrhagic gastroenteritis in a wildlife rescue centre. Histopathology revealed microfilariae in the testicular connective tissue and the epidydimal connective and fat tissues. A PCR assay targeting cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 confirmed that adult worms from the peritoneal cavity and testicular microfilariae were of the same filarial species. Mildly engorged argasid mite larvae attached to the bat skin proved negative for filarial DNA and the adult filarial worms proved negative for endosymbiont Wolbachia. Conclusion While the standard filarial life cycle pattern involves a vertebrate definitive host and an invertebrate vector, represented by a blood-sucking ectoparasite, our finding suggests that microfilariae of this nematode species may also be semen-borne, with transmission intensity promoted by the polygynous mating system of vespertilionid bats in which an infected male mates with many females during the autumn swarming. Presence of microfilariae may be expected to decrease semen quality and transmission via this route may challenge the success of ...