TMU scientists have found new atypical parasites in bats. They argue that the interspecies exchange of parasites is potentially dangerous by the transmission of several dangerous diseases to humans. The results of the study are published in the journal Ecologica Montenegrina.
As noted, scientists from the Tyumen State Medical University, together with specialists from Belarus, discovered new atypical parasites in the red evening bat and the water bat, the most common bat species in the two countries.
The identified fleas of the species Paleopsylla soricis soricis and Amalaraeus penicilliger are carriers of rickettsia, the causative agents of various fevers, including Crimean Congo fever, typhus and Siberian tick-borne typhus. According to scientists, previously these parasites lived only on rodents and insects.
Associate Professor of the Tyumen Medical University Maria Orlova clarifies that the discovery of new parasites indicates that Chiroptera is a non-isolated group that can spread dangerous natural focal infections.