African Non-Human Primates Host Diverse Enteroviruses

Abstract

Enteroviruses (EVs) belong to the family Picornaviridae and are responsible for mild to severe diseases in mammals including humans and non-human primates (NHP). Simian EVs were first discovered in the 1950s in the Old World Monkeys and recently in wild chimpanzee, gorilla and mandrill in Cameroon. In the present study, we screened by PCR EVs in 600 fecal samples of wild apes and monkeys that were collected at four sites in Gabon. A total of 32 samples were positive for EVs (25 from mandrills, 7 from chimpanzees, none from gorillas). The phylogenetic analysis of VP1 and VP2 genes showed that EVs identified in chimpanzees were members of two human EV species, EV-A and EV-B, and those identified in mandrills were members of the human species EV-B and the simian species EV-J. The identification of two novel enterovirus types, EV-B112 in a chimpanzee and EV-B113 in a mandrill, suggests these NHPs could be potential sources of new EV types. The identification of EV-B107 and EV90 that were previously found in humans indicates cross-species transfers. Also the identification of chimpanzee-derived EV110 in a mandrill demonstrated a wide host range of this EV. Further research of EVs in NHPs would help understanding emergence of new types or variants, and evaluating the real risk of cross-species transmission for humans as well for NHPs populations.

A systematic review of evidence that enteroviruses may be zoonotic

“… Sequence-independent PCR and next-generation sequencing Lomakina et al 37 Russia 2016 Coxsackie B4 characterization demonstrated phylogenetic evidence that SVDV emerged from a human ancestor between 1945 and 1975 (T75 diverging from human CVB4 after 1945). Viral isolation, Sanger sequencing using PCR Mombo et al 28 Gabon 2017 Thirty-two out of 600 fecal samples from wild apes and monkeys were positive for EVs with HEV-A and HEV-B strains (targeting the VP1 and VP2 regions) detected in the chimpanzee samples and HEV-B and simian EV-J identified in mandrill samples. RT-qPCR and partial genome sequencing RT-PCR reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, RT-qPCR real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, RT-snPCR semi-nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, HEV-A human enterovirus A, NHP non-human primate, AFP acute flaccid paralysis, SVDV swine vesicular disease virus …”

“…Interestingly, six of these 11 publications were from studies clustered in Central Africa: three cited studies of NHP EV-infections only in Cameroon 23 – 25 , one in both Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 26 , one in the DRC 27 , and one in Gabon 28 .…”

“…Mombo et al was the first report to document that a human EV-C99 was associated with AFP symptoms in a captive chimpanzee in Congo 27 . Two years later, Mombo et al screened fecal samples from wild-living primates (include OWMs and apes) and through nucleic acid detection detected a novel human EV-B type (EV-B11) in mandrills, as well as human EV-A type (closely related to EV90) and EV-B type (EV107 and EV-B112) in chimpanzees 28 . These findings are all consistent with previously published reports in this review.…”

Enterovirus-A76 of South-East Asian ancestry in a Captive Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in Jos, Nigeria

“…Why this is the case is currently not clear. However, as previously suggested (Mombo et al, 2017), the possibility exists that the VP1 gene could not be amplified in the other seven samples because they are not members of EV-A -EV-D for which the VP1 amplification snPCR assay was originally developed (Nix et al, 2006). With the increased significance of enteroviruses in NHPs, it is of utmost importance that the WHO recommended assay (WHO, 2015) be further improved to be able to consistently amplify the VP1 gene of non-Species A -D enteroviruses.…”

Molecular epidemiology and phylogenetics of human enteroviruses: Is there a forest behind the trees?

“…Until recently, most simian enteroviruses, even those of “human” species Enterovirus A‐D , were apparently distinct from human types . In recent years, several studies have found a significant overlap between populations of human and simian enteroviruses . Some types, most prominently echoviruses, have almost never been found in NHPs, some types, such as EV‐C99, have been found equally in humans and NHPs in several studies, while many NHP types have never been found in humans.…”