Abstract
Simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) strains occasionally infect humans. However, the frequency of such infections is unknown. We show that direct transmission of STLV-1 from nonhuman primates to humans may be responsible for a substantial proportion of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 infections in rural Côte d’Ivoire, where primate hunting is common.
Highlights
Simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) strains occasionally infect humans
Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) can induce adult T-cell leukemia or lymphoma and HTLV1–associated myelopathy or tropical spastic paraparesis. These pathologies are a serious threat to the several million persons infected with HTLV-1 [1]
Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that the geographic distribution of HTLV-1 genetic diversity is not uniform
Summary
Six of the newly determined HTLV1 sequences were unambiguously related to HTLV-1A (bootstrap, 94; posterior probabilities, 1) (Figure 2), confirming the predominance of this molecular subtype in Côte d’Ivoire and in western Africa [6] Another 3 HTLV-1 sequences were closely related to STLV-1 sequences found in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) from Taï National Park (bootstrap, 83; posterior probabilities, 1) (Figure 2; online Technical Appendix Table 2), whereas the last 1 was related to STLV-1 sequences from red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus badius badius) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) from Taï National Park (bootstrap, Conclusions We investigated the frequency of direct zoonotic transmission of STLV-1 in a rural region of Côte d’Ivoire neighboring Taï National Park and found that only 2 of the STLV-1–related sequences would be compatible with a local human-to-human transmission (Gah and Kei; Figure 2). It remains to be determined whether these zoonotic transmissions from sooty mangabeys are favored as a result of molecular determinants
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