Potential zoonotic pathogens hosted by endangered bonobos

Hacène Medkour,Claudine André,Didier Raoult,Inestin Amona,Bernard Davoust,Jean-Jacques Muyembé-Tamfum,Oleg Mediannikov,Paulin Mungongo,Anthony Levasseur,Florence Fenollar,Sergei Castaneda,Raphaël Belais

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-85849-4

Abstract

Few publications, often limited to one specific pathogen, have studied bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living relatives, as possible reservoirs of certain human infectious agents. Here, 91 stool samples from semicaptive bonobos and bonobos reintroduced in the wild, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were screened for different infectious agents: viruses, bacteria and parasites. We showed the presence of potentially zoonotic viral, bacterial or parasitic agents in stool samples, sometimes coinfecting the same individuals. A high prevalence of Human mastadenoviruses (HAdV-C, HAdV-B, HAdV-E) was observed. Encephalomyocarditis viruses were identified in semicaptive bonobos, although identified genotypes were different from those identified in the previous fatal myocarditis epidemic at the same site in 2009. Non-pallidum Treponema spp. including symbiotic T. succinifaciens, T. berlinense and several potential new species with unknown pathogenicity were identified. We detected DNA of non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium spp., Acinetobacter spp., Salmonella spp. as well as pathogenic Leptospira interrogans. Zoonotic parasites such as Taenia solium and Strongyloides stercoralis were predominantly present in wild bonobos, while Giardia lamblia was found only in bonobos in contact with humans, suggesting a possible exchange. One third of bonobos carried Oesophagostomum spp., particularly zoonotic O. stephanostomum and O. bifurcum-like species, as well as other uncharacterized Nematoda. Trypanosoma theileri has been identified in semicaptive bonobos. Pathogens typically known to be transmitted sexually were not identified. We present here the results of a reasonably-sized screening study detecting DNA/RNA sequence evidence of potentially pathogenic viruses and microorganisms in bonobo based on a noninvasive sampling method (feces) and focused PCR diagnostics.

Highlights

Few publications, often limited to one specific pathogen, have studied bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living relatives, as possible reservoirs of certain human infectious agents
Human-animal-environmental interactions play a major role in understanding the spread of infectious agents that are pathogenic to humans[1], and these interactions were the origin of the emergence of the "One Health" concept
The objective of this study was to identify the spectrum of zoonotic bacteria, parasites and viruses in two populations of bonobos, one semicaptive (Lola) living every day in contact with humans and the other living in the wild (Ekolo), and to compare the pathogen distribution between the two sites

Summary

Introduction

Often limited to one specific pathogen, have studied bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living relatives, as possible reservoirs of certain human infectious agents. We detected DNA of non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium spp., Acinetobacter spp., Salmonella spp. as well as pathogenic Leptospira interrogans Zoonotic parasites such as Taenia solium and Strongyloides stercoralis were predominantly present in wild bonobos, while Giardia lamblia was found only in bonobos in contact with humans, suggesting a possible exchange. Human-animal-environmental interactions play a major role in understanding the spread of infectious agents that are pathogenic to humans[1], and these interactions were the origin of the emergence of the "One Health" concept. To understand these interactions, samples from apes containing genetic material are required in order to conduct relevant studies and to assess the health status of a given population[2,3]. Each study was dedicated to the search for a specific pathogen (Table 1)

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion