Abstract
Highlight: The present report reveals for the first time natural lentiviral infection of wild Indian NHPs, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) by SIVs that are phylogenetically diverse from all known SIVs, including “SIVmac”, which infects captive rhesus monkeys. The novel SIVs are intriguingly homologous to HIV-1, based on serology and partial lentiviral genomic sequence analyses. Diverse lenti-viruses infect human and nonhuman primates (NHPs). There are more than 45 different “species-specific” simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) that infect their cognate NHP hosts in natural habitats in Africa. Indian NHPs are not known to be infected by SIVs in the wild. Conventionally SIVs are named after their natural hosts, except for SIVmac, which infects captive rather than wild rhesus macaques. SIVmac is therefore a misnomer. It is a genetic variant of the African SIVsmm, which infects wild African sooty mangabey monkeys. SIVsmm is the progenitor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-2), while SIVcpz that infects wild chimpanzees is the progenitor of HIV-1. Although natural infections cannot be easily studied in wild NHP populations, we have previously reported co-infection of wild Indian NHPs by other retroviruses: simian retroviruses (SRVs) and Simian Foamy viruses (SFV). Apart from zoonosis, transmission of pathogens from humans to animals: anthroponosis, has also been reported in literature.
Highlights
Diverse lentiviruses infect human and nonhuman primates (NHPs)
Highlight: The present report reveals for the first time natural lentiviral infection of wild Indian NHPs, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) by simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) that are phylogenetically diverse from all known SIVs, including “SIVmac”, which infects captive rhesus monkeys
Natural infections cannot be studied in wild NHP populations, we have previously reported co-infection of wild Indian NHPs by other retroviruses: simian retroviruses (SRVs) and Simian Foamy viruses (SFV)
Summary
Diverse lentiviruses infect human and nonhuman primates (NHPs). Crossspecies transmission has led to many devastating epidemics which remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Presence of zoonotic pathogens in humans relies on human-animal interface and their environments. The interhuman barrier determines the ability of zoonotic pathogens to efficiently transmit among humans, causing outbreaks, epidemics, or pandemics [2]. Once cross-species transmission of pathogens has occurred, interhuman transmission maintains the infection in the population. For successful cross species transmission, only “spillover” into a single individual of a new host species is not sufficient. For a zoonotic virus to become endemic, sustained chain of transmission in the new host population (“host switching”) is required [3]
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