Bats and rodents serve as reservoirs for numerous zoonotic pathogens, including species of
Trypanosoma and
Leishmania. Domestic rats host the flea-transmitted
Trypanosoma (
Herpetosoma)
lewisi, which can be associated with humans, particularly young or immunocompromised individuals. Using Fluorescent Fragment Length
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Bats and rodents serve as reservoirs for numerous zoonotic pathogens, including species of
Trypanosoma and
Leishmania. Domestic rats host the flea-transmitted
Trypanosoma (
Herpetosoma)
lewisi, which can be associated with humans, particularly young or immunocompromised individuals. Using Fluorescent Fragment Length Barcoding (FFLB) and phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rRNA sequences, we identified two
Herpetosoma species,
T. lewisi-like and
T. musculi-like species, in bats of different families inhabiting rooftops and peridomestic structures in Brazil (44%, 107 bats examined) and Venezuela (50%, 52 bats examined). These species are typically associated with
Rattus spp. (domestic rats) and
Mus musculus (house mice), respectively. Furthermore, bats were co-infected with up to five other species, including Trypanosoma dionisii,
Trypanosoma cruzi marinkellei, and isolates from the
Trypanosoma Neobat clade, all strongly associated with bats, and
Trypanosoma cruzi and
Trypanosoma rangeli, known to infect various mammals, including humans. Therefore, our findings expand the known host range of
Herpetosoma to bats, marking the first report of potential spillover of
Herpetosoma trypanosomes from rodents to bats and underscoring the potential for the cross-species transmission of flea-borne trypanosomes. These results highlight the need for a One Health approach to assess infection risks associated with trypanosome spillover from synanthropic rodents and bats to humans.
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