Vector-Borne Bacteria Detected in Ticks, Mites and Flies Parasitizing Bats in the State of Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon.

Bats (Chiroptera) are among the most diverse and geographically dispersed mammals. They are of great importance to the ecosystem, as pollinators, seed dispersers and pest controllers, in addition to being hosts to several parasitic arthropods, including ticks, mites, lice, fleas and flies. Their diet includes the tissue and blood or other body fluids of bats. Bats are reservoirs of several disease-causing agents, many of them pathogenic to humans, such as bacteria, as well as protozoa, viruses and fungi. This study was conducted in Monte Negro, Rondônia, Brazil and the occurrence of parasitic arthropods in bats was evaluated, as well as a screening of bacteria that these ectoparasites can carry. Through a total of 69 nocturnal captures, 217 chiropterans were sampled, representing 23 species and six families. A total of 592 specimens of parasitic arthropods (ticks, mites and flies) were collected from these bats (9% dipterans, 59% ticks and 32% mites). spp. were found in two species of bat flies ( and ) in peri-urban and forest areas with an infection rate of 62% and 38%, respectively. We report for the first time in Rondônia the argasid tick and its infection by a spotted fever group bacterium ' Rickettsia wissemanii' in a peri-urban area.