The origins of HBV are unclear. The new orthohepadnavirus species from Brazilian capuchin monkeys resembled HBV in elicited infection patterns and could infect human liver cells using the same receptor as HBV. Evolutionary analyses suggested that primate HBV-related viruses might have emerged in African ancestors of New World monkeys millions of years ago. HBV was associated with hominoid primates, including humans and apes, suggesting evolutionary origins of HBV before the formation of modern humans. HBV genotypes found in American natives were divergent from those found in American monkeys, and likely introduced along prehistoric human migration. Our results elucidate the evolutionary origins and dispersal of primate HBV, identify a new orthohepadnavirus reservoir, and enable new perspectives for animal models of hepatitis B.
Since 2013, Zika virus (ZIKV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have infected millions of people in the Americas via urban transmission cycles. Nonhuman primates (NHP) are involved in sylvatic transmission cycles maintaining ZIKV and CHIKV in the Old World. We tested NHP sampled during 2012 to 2017 in urban and peri-urban areas severely affected by ZIKV and CHIKV in Brazil. Seroprevalence and antibody titers were low for both viruses. Additionally, we found evidence for infection by heterologous viruses eliciting cross-reactive antibodies. Our data suggest that urban or peri-urban NHP are not easily infected by ZIKV and CHIKV despite intense local transmission. These data may imply that the ZIKV and CHIKV outbreaks in the Americas cannot be sustained in urban or peri-urban NHP once human population immunity limits urban transmission cycles. Investigation of diverse animals is urgently required to determine the fate of the ZIKV and CHIKV outbreaks in the Americas.
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