Rabies Virus in Myotis Nigricans (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) Bats in SãO Paulo, Brazil - Case Report

Abstract:
The bat is a synanthropic animal and is considered the second most important species in the transmission of rabies to humans in Brazil: nearly 12% of human cases are transmitted by bats. Among bats, the main transmitter is Desmodus rotundus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) that has a preference for the blood of mammals, including humans. But due to interactions between different colonies non-hematophagous species were found carrying the virus, resulting in potential transmitters of the disease. The aim of this study was to report the record of an insectivorous bat with rabies in the city of São Paulo, SP. The animal was captured in a garden on the premises of the Environmental Health Surveillance. The specimen was identified as adult female of the species Myotis nigricans, family Vespertilionidae. It was sent to the Zoonosis Control Center of the City of São Paulo (CCZ-SP) and submitted to the routine procedure for diagnosis of rabies, which includes research of the antigen in brain tissue by means of direct immunofluorescence test. Cases like this reinforce the importance of vaccination against rabies in dogs and cats and the need for strategies in the management of bats, preventing the permanence of these animals in homes, factories and abandoned sites, since the predation of bats, especially for cats is a great risk of transmission of human rabies and an important link between rural and urban cycle of the disease.