Hematological Profiles of the Free-Living Vampire Bat (<i>Desmodus Rotundus</i>) in the State of Ceará, Brazil

The vampire bat Desmodus rotundus feeds on the blood of other animals. It is accordingly a primary vector that plays an important role in the rabies life cycle in herbivores. This disease is highly damaging to livestock and can also affect other domestic animals and humans. Due to its importance in the transmission of rabies, D. rotundus has been the subject of many laboratory investigations. The aim of this work was to establish hematological values for D. rotundus. Bats were sampled in the Ceará municipalities of Potiretama, Tauá, and Granja in Brazil. The bats of Tauá presented higher means of total leukocytes compared with bats in Potiretama, and also higher mean eosinophils and monocytes (relative and absolute contents) compared with bats in the other two municipalities. The bats of Granja, on the other hand, exhibited lower values. Bats from Potiretama had higher relative mean lymphocyte values than animals from Tauá. Bats from Potiretama presented lower mean Globular Volume values than animals from Granja and Tauá. Bats from Potiretama had higher mean Mean Corpuscular Volume values than animals from other municipalities. There was a difference in the mean relative values of eosinophils between males and females; females presented higher means. The other variables that we examined were not statistically different between sexes. Our findings provide important reference information that can guide future research about D. rotundus.