Author:
Mazet Jonna A. K.,Genovese Brooke N.,Harris Laurie A.,Cranfield Michael,Noheri Jean Bosco,Kinani Jean Felix,Zimmerman Dawn,Bahizi Methode,Mudakikwa Antoine,Goldstein Tracey,Gilardi Kirsten V. K.
Abstract
AbstractRespiratory illness (RI) accounts for a large proportion of mortalities in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), and fatal outbreaks, including disease caused by human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections, have heightened concern about the risk of human pathogen transmission to this endangered species, which is not only critically important to the biodiversity of its ecosystem but also to the economies of the surrounding human communities. Our goal was to conduct a molecular epidemiologic study to detect the presence of HRSV and HMPV in fecal samples from wild human-habituated free-ranging mountain gorillas in Rwanda and to evaluate the role of these viruses in RI outbreaks. Fecal samples were collected from gorillas with clinical signs of RI between June 2012 and February 2013 and tested by real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays; comparison fecal samples were obtained from gorillas without clinical signs of RI sampled during the 2010 Virunga gorilla population census. PCR assays detected HMPV and HRSV first in spiked samples; subsequently, HRSV-A, the worldwide-circulating ON1 genotype, was detected in 12 of 20 mountain gorilla fecal samples collected from gorillas with RI during outbreaks, but not in samples from animals without respiratory illness. Our findings confirmed that pathogenic human respiratory viruses are transmitted to gorillas and that they are repeatedly introduced into mountain gorilla populations from people, attesting to the need for stringent biosecurity measures for the protection of gorilla health.
Funder
Morris Animal Foundation
Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis
United States Agency for International Development
University of California Global Health Institute
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis,Ecology
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