Host-adapted Cryptosporidium and Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotypes in straw-colored fruit bats in Nigeria

Li, Na; Ayinmode, Adekunle B.; Zhang, Hongwei; Feng, Yaoyu; Xiao, Lihua

The study was conducted with fecal specimens collected from strawcolored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) living in the Agodi Gardens (N 07.40614; E 003.90073), a popular public park in central Ibadan, Nigeria (Fig. 1 ). It is located between a University College Hospital and a residential area and is 60.7 hectares in size. It had one single colony of bats with no interspecies co-roosting, with thousands of mixed ages of bats on trees with thick canopy. It was estimated that there were about 30,000 straw-colored fruit bats at the time of sampling, with no other species of bats in presence. Fecal droppings from bats hanging on tall forest trees were collected during April-July 2011 at 109 individual points. Only fresh droppings were collected from various locations on two separate occasions. They were stored at −20°C prior to DNA extraction. There were no direct interactions between sampling personnel and animals at the time of sampling.