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Hematologic profile of hematophagous Desmodus rotundus bats before and after experimental infection with rabies virus
Marilene Fernandes de Almeida1, José Trezza-Netto1, Caroline Cotrin Aires2
1Centro de Controle de Zoonoses, Coordenação de Vigilância em Saúde, Prefeitura da Cidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Introduction:
Hematophagous Desmodus rotundus bats play an important role in the rabies lifecycle. This study describes the hematological profile of these bats before and after experimental infection with rabies virus.
Methods:
Cells counts were performed in a Neubauer chamber.
Results:
The average values of erythrocytes and leucocytes counts in blood before experimental infections were 9.97 × 10(6)mm3 and 4.80 × 10(3)mm3, respectively. Neutrophils represented 69.9% of white blood cells and the lymphocytes represented 26.9%. Following the experimental infections, the average numbers of erythrocytes and leucocytes was 9.43 × 106mm3 and 3.98 × 10(3)mm3, respectively. Neutrophils represented 40% of white blood cells and the lymphocytes represented 59%.
Conclusions:
The hematological profile given in this study can serve as reference values for D. rotundus bats.
