Bats are an important ecological group within ecosystems. The rabies virus is a Lyssavirus, and haematophagous bats are the principal reservoir; however, the virus has also been detected in non-haematophagous bats. The objective was to determine the rabies virus in non-haematophagous bats in the Colombian Caribbean region. In 2017, a cross-sectional study was carried out with a base-risk sampling in twelve geographic zones of the Colombian Caribbean area that included the main ecosystems of two departments. 286 bats were captured, which were euthanized with a pharmacological treatment following the ethical protocols of animal experimentation. The taxonomic identification was done with dichotomous keys. The necropsy was carried out at the capture site, and brain samples were kept in liquid nitrogen. The extraction of the RNA was carried out from the frozen brains with Trizol™; a fragment of 914 bp of the glycoprotein G of the rabies virus was amplified with RT-PCR. The amplicons were sequenced with the Sanger method. Twenty-three genera of bats were identified, and, in two frugivorous, Artibeus lituratus and Artibeus planirostris, amplicons were obtained and sequenced as the rabies virus. This is the first evidence of natural infection of the rabies virus in frugivorous bats in the Colombian Caribbean area; this result is important for the surveillance and control of rabies.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging viral pandemic disease. In the last 6 months, SARS-CoV-2 has caused millions of reported cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. As other world regions, South America has not contained the pandemic’s advance since it lacks the hospital and economic capacities. Public health implications of transmission, while the asymptomatic/presymptomatic infection is a critical concern at the current pandemic. Objective: Describe the socio-demographic, clinical, and viral features of a cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the Colombian Caribbean. Methods: Six hundred eighty-six clinical samples of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection cases and contacts individuals from several hospital centers in the department of Córdoba, Colombia, were received at our laboratory between April 9th and May 16th, 2020. RNA was extracted using lysis buffers and spin columns. The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using commercially available multiplex real-time PCR assay for simultaneous detection of 3 target genes of SARS-CoV-2 (Allplex™, 2019-nCoV assay, Korea). Viral copies quantification was done using a standard curve constructed from seriated dilutions of a SARS-CoV-2 positive control. Statics descriptive methods were used. Results: Thirty-five nasopharyngeal samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection; the average age was 43 (range, 1–95 years). Seventeen of 35 (49%) of the patients showed symptoms. Most of them had a cough, fever, and odynophagia; three of the patients reported having arthralgia. Only two patients required hospitalization. None of the patients had known co-morbidities. RT-qPCR results show that two of the symptomatic patients had significantly higher RNA copies than the rest. Eighteen of 35 (51%) individuals were asymptomatic, and the average age was 30 (range, 6–61 years). Four asymptomatic individuals showed a higher copy than some symptomatic patients; nonetheless, the average of RNA copies 8.26 × 10¹⁰ was lower than the symptomatic. Conclusions: This study shows that asymptomatic patients may develop infections with a high number of RNA copies. Since a considerable percentage of infections may be asymptomatic/presymptomatic, enhanced testing approaches may be needed to detect these persons. Due the occurrence of a large proportion of infections being a result from transmission originated in asymptomatic/presymptomatic individuals, public health interventions in Colombia should be based on two steps: a massive molecular screening, and viral load quantification. Finally, a remarkable issue in our study is the average age of symptomatic and asymptomatic groups (43 and 30 respectively) which may be important because of the economic impact that has been caused by the coronavirus pandemic and may be probably the cause of the reduced lethality observed in the country and the department at the time of this study.

The evolutionary origin of coronaviruses is related to bats (order Chiroptera), and their association with pathologies in animals and humans is expected. Anthropic threats reduce bat diversity and expose humans to extraordinary transmission and spread of associated viruses, putting health and food security at risk owing to the multiple ecological roles that bats play. This study aimed to determine the presence of coronaviruses in bats in the Department of Córdoba, Colombia. Between 2022 and 2023, 11 municipalities were selected using non-probabilistic sampling methods. A total of 262 bats belonging to 16 species of five families were captured and identified. Serological tests were performed to detect SARS-CoV-2, and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect the coronavirus RdRp gene. RdRp-positive samples were sequenced using Sanger sequencing. Five specimens (2.7%) had antibodies against the coronavirus N protein, and the RdRp gene was detected in 55 specimens (21.0%), all belonging to the family Phyllostomidae. Phylogenetic analysis of the RdRp gene revealed that the newly generated sequences represented alphacoronaviruses. Bats tested in ecoregions with greater anthropogenic intervention were shown to be carriers of coronaviruses, unlike bats from conserved ecoregions. Coronavirus surveillance in bats has revealed previous infections through serology and circulating infections in natural populations of different ecoregions of the Department of Córdoba, where inter-species jumps could be generated by contact between bats and domestic/wild animals, or humans.

Since the appearance of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, there has been increased interest in understanding the role of bats in the maintenance and circulation of coronaviruses. This study aimed to describe the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships and antigenic architecture of a new coronavirus detected in bats in the Department of Córdoba. In a surveillance study of pathogens of interest to public health, a bat Phyllostomus hastatus was captured. Rectal swabs samples were collected from the bats, and RNA was extracted and sequenced using NGS with MGI-G50 equipment. The results were analyzed using bioinformatics software. A contig of 28,619 nucleotides associated with the Coronaviridae family was obtained. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses of the ORF1ab gene revealed a novel divergent Alphacoronavirus that originated directly from an ancestral node. The analysis of the spike (S) protein and receptor-binding domain (RBD) is similar to that of humans (HCoV-229E) and porcine coronaviruses. In silico analysis suggests potential RBD interaction sites with human and pig cellular receptor aminopeptidase N. There is a possible risk of interspecies jumping of the new AlphaCoV/P. hastatus in humans and pigs. This is the first study to perform phylogenetic, evolutionary, and antigenic characterization of bat coronaviruses in Colombia.

The Agrarian Station Cotové is located in Santa Fe de Antioquia, an area of tropical dry forest in which agricultural activities have been carried out for more than 40 years, which have transformed their original ecosystems and modified the environmental conditions. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the composition and structure of ants in five sites with different land uses: fruit trees, silvopasture, secondary forest, grass for cutting, and pastures with low density of trees. In each land use, three transects of 100m each were located, inside, inside-edge, and edge, taking a sample every 20m to a depth of 10cm. In each site, the ants were identified to morphospecies, and classified by trophic guilds and by functional groups. The diversity index for each land uses were determined. We collected 5239 ants, grouped in 253 colonies, belonging to 23 genera and 37 morphospecies of subfamilies Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Formicinae y Ecitoninae. Species diversity was highest in secondary forest and fruit trees, while the dominance was higher in silvopasture and pastures with low density of trees. Secondary forest and fruit trees showed the highest value of shared morphospecies. The omnivorous and predator’s trophic guilds were the best represented, and regarding functional groups, we found a high proportion of tropical climate specialists and Myrmicinae generalists. La Estación Agraria Cotové está ubicada en Santa Fe de Antioquia, zona de bosque seco tropical, en la que se han desarrollado actividades agropecuarias por más de 40 años, transformado sus ecosistemas originales y modificando las condiciones ambientales. Por lo anterior, este estudio tiene por objetivo evaluar la composición y la estructura de las hormigas en cinco sitios, con diferentes usos del suelo de la Estación Agraria: frutales, sistema silvopastoril, bosque secundario, pastos de corte y pastoreo con baja densidad de árboles. En cada uso del suelo, se ubicaron tres transectos de 100m cada uno, al interior, interior-borde y borde, tomando una muestra cada 20m, a una profundidad de 10cm. Se identificaron las hormigas presentes, a nivel de morfoespecies y se clasificaron por gremios tróficos y por grupos funcionales. Se recolectaron 5.239 individuos, agrupados en 253 colonias, pertenecientes a 23 géneros y 37 morfoespecies de las subfamilias Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Formicinae y Ecitoninae. La diversidad fue más alta en bosque secundario y frutales, mientras que la dominancia fue mayor en el sistema silvopastoril y en pastoreo con baja densidad de árboles. Entre bosque secundario y frutales, se encontró el mayor valor de morfoespecies compartidas. Los gremios tróficos mejor representados fueron omnívoros y depredadores y, por grupo funcional, se presentó una mayor proporción de Especialistas de Clima Tropical y de Myrmicinae Generalistas.