Bats and Zoonoses: A Pilot Study to Investigate Bats as a Potential Source of Zoonotic Mycoses

Background: Bats are mammals that are distributed everywhere in the world except in the hottest desert and polar regions. Bats are involved in many ecosystem services that are important for the survival of a human being. Despite their positive roles in the ecosystem, bats are potentially a source of zoonotic diseases. A pilot study was conducted in selected villages within Mnisi traditional authority’s area, Manyeleti Game reserve and Hans Hoheisen wildlife research station, in the Republic of South Africa from July to December 2018. The main objectives of the study were: To phenotypically characterize and list the bat species, to determine positive and negative human-bats-environment interaction and to microbiologically screen faecal samples for zoonotic mycotic diseases. Methods: A structured questionnaire composed of multiple choice and open-ended questions was employed with a total of thirty-three participants in all three focus groups, thirty bats were mist-netted and their species were identified, fifty-five faecal samples were collected from identified bat roosting sites and captured bats. Results: About 97.0% of the respondents were aware of either the presence or absence of bats in their immediate environment. However, most of them (87.9%) weren’t comfortable with the presence of bats in their buildings and nearly half of them (48.5%) did not know whether bats have a positive role or not in the environment. Some of the respondents (15.2%) mentioned bats have positive roles in the environment like pollinating plants, spreading seeds of indigenous plants, catching harmful insects, etc. Over half of the respondents (66.7%) complained bats can cause problems. About 18.2% of the respondents indicated that they have contracted fungal diseases due to cleaning bats’ dropping without wearing adequate protection. The culture analysis of faecal samples revealed that bats can harbour pathogenic fungi such as Aspergillus. We identified the presence of three genera of bats namely: Rhinolophus, Mops and Chaerepon. Conclusion: Bats can harbour similar fungal pathogens that cause disease in humans. A comprehensive research should be conducted to get a complete list of bats species in the study area and the Aspergillus isolates should also be subjected to further molecular characterization. Keywords Bats; Republic of South Africa; Zoonotic mycotic diseases; Environment