Participation of Bats (Chiroptera, Mammalia) and Their Ectoparasites in Circulation of Pathogens of Natural Focal Infections in the South of Russia

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To determine the species composition of ectoparasites, 65 individuals of 6 species of vesper bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) were examined. Altogether, 521 specimens of 11 species of arthropods (gamasid mites, soft ticks, and fleas) were collected, of which Steatonyssus noctulus and Nycteridopsylla eusarca were recorded for the first time from Rostov Province. As the result of laboratory studies of the bats and ectoparasites associated with them in Rostov Province, DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi s. l., genospecies Borrelia afzelii was detected in samples of Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii, Eptesicus serotinus, Carios vespertilionis, Steatonyssus periblepharus; DNA of Borrelia spp. was detected in samples of Macronyssus flavus; DNA of Ehrlichia spp., in samples of P. pipistrellus and P. kuhlii; DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, in samples of Nyctalus noctula. Participation of bats and their ectoparasites in the epizootic process of tularemia was recorded for the first time, by detection of Francisella tularensis DNA in samples of P. pipistrellus, N. noctula, P. kuhlii, and Cimex ex gr. pipistrelli. Markers of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus were discovered for the first time in samples of N. noctula and P. pipistrellus.