Abstract
Free-ranging nonhuman primates are frequent sources of zoonotic pathogens due to their physiologic similarity and in many tropical regions, close contact with humans. Many high-risk disease transmission interfaces have not been monitored for zoonotic pathogens due to difficulties inherent to invasive sampling of free-ranging wildlife. Non-invasive surveillance of nonhuman primates for pathogens with high potential for spillover into humans is therefore critical for understanding disease ecology of existing zoonotic pathogen burdens and identifying communities where zoonotic diseases are likely to emerge in the future. We developed a non-invasive oral sampling technique using ropes distributed to nonhuman primates to target viruses shed in the oral cavity, which through bite wounds and discarded food, could be transmitted to people. Optimization was performed by testing paired rope and oral swabs from laboratory colony rhesus macaques for rhesus cytomegalovirus (RhCMV) and simian foamy virus (SFV) and implementing the technique with free-ranging terrestrial and arboreal nonhuman primate species in Uganda and Nepal. Both ubiquitous DNA and RNA viruses, RhCMV and SFV, were detected in oral samples collected from ropes distributed to laboratory colony macaques and SFV was detected in free-ranging macaques and olive baboons. Our study describes a technique that can be used for disease surveillance in free-ranging nonhuman primates and, potentially, other wildlife species when invasive sampling techniques may not be feasible.
Highlights
The World Health Organization designated the assessment of the burden of zoonoses as a strategic area for action in their global plan to combat neglected tropical diseases [1]
Sampling primates to screen for zoonotic pathogens is logistically challenging because standard invasive sampling techniques, such as the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases | DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd
Viruses originating in wild animals account for over 70% of emerging zoonotic infectious diseases in humans including viruses that have caused pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, epidemics such as Ebola hemorrhagic fever and yellow fever, as well as smaller outbreaks such as Marburg hemorrhagic fever [3,4,5,6,7,8]
Summary
The World Health Organization designated the assessment of the burden of zoonoses as a strategic area for action in their global plan to combat neglected tropical diseases [1]. Both domestic and wild animals contribute to the burden of zoonotic disease [2]. Free-ranging nonhuman primates (hereafter referred to as primates) are of particular concern as sources or carriers of zoonotic viruses because of their close phylogenetic and physiologic relationship and, in many geographic regions, frequent and close contact with humans [9, 10]. Surveillance of free-ranging primates at these high-risk interfaces is critical and will facilitate improved understanding of disease ecology, identify human communities at risk for pathogen transmission, and can enable the detection of zoonotic pathogens before their spillover into humans [13,14,15]
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