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Vampire bats may link Chagas cycles

Molecular screening detected Trypanosoma cruzi in 42% of sampled bats in northern Belize, raising questions about their role in parasite transmission.

  • By

  • Andrea Surnit

  • October 26, 2026

  • 4 min

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  • 1

    Among 207 vampire bats sampled at 2 sites in northern Belize, 86 (42%) tested positive for Trypanosoma cruzi.

  • 2

    Sequencing of 10 positive samples identified 5 T cruzi lineages, including TcBat and TcVI, which had not previously been documented in Belize.

  • 3

    A TcIV haplotype from a bat clustered with sequences from Belizean triatomine vectors and a 2020 human infection, suggesting a potential epidemiological connection but not proving direct transmission.

  • 4

    Adjusted infection odds were higher at Lamanai than at Ka’Kabish and higher in 2022 than in 2019; age, sex, and reproductive status were not associated with infection.

  • 5

    Limited sampling and sequencing prevented the study from establishing transmission pathways or estimating lineage frequencies across the broader bat population.

Original Source(s)

Vampire bats may link Chagas cycles

  • by Andrea Surnit

  • October 26, 2026

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