Effects of Epidemic Diseases on the Distribution of Bonobos

Abstract

This study examined how outbreaks and the occurrence of Anthrax, Ebola, Monkeypox and Trypanosomiasis may differentially affect the distribution of bonobos (Pan paniscus). Using a combination of mapping, Jaccard overlapping coefficients and binary regressions, the study determined how each disease correlated with the extent of occurrence of, and the areas occupied by, bonobos. Anthrax has only been reported to occur outside the range of bonobos and so was not considered further. Ebola, Monkeypox and Trypanosomiasis were each reported within the area of occupancy of bonobos. Their respective overlap coefficients were: J = 0.10; Qα = 0.05 = 2.00 (odds ratios = 0.0001, 95% CI = 0.0057; Z = −19.41, significant) for Ebola; J = 1.00; Qα = 0.05 = 24.0 (odds ratios = 1.504, 95% CI = 0.5066–2.6122) for Monkeypox; and, J = 0.33; Qα = 0.05 = 11.5 (Z = 1.14, significant) for Trypanosomiasis. There were significant relationships for the presence and absence of Monkeypox and Trypanosomiasis and the known extent of occurrence of bonobos, based on the equations y = 0.2368Ln(x)+0.8006 (R2 = 0.9772) and y = −0.2942Ln(x)+0.7155 (R2 = 0.698), respectively. The positive relationship suggested that bonobos tolerated the presence of Monkeypox. In contrast, the significant negative coefficient suggested that bonobos were absent in areas where Trypanosomiasis is endemic. Our results suggest that large rivers may have prevented Ebola from spreading into the range of bonobos. Meanwhile, Trypanosomiasis has been recorded among humans within the area of occurrence of bonobos, and appears the most important disease in shaping the area of occupancy of bonobos within their overall extent of occupancy.

MHC class I diversity in chimpanzees and bonobos

“…The apparent absence of SIV in bonobos could be explained by the assumption that this species never experienced SIV or exhibited a superior defense against this type of virus similar as proposed for western chimpanzees (de Groot et al 2002 ). Other studies showed that bonobos are confronted with malaria, ebola, monkeypox, and trypanosomiasis in their natural habitat and that pathogens have an impact on their distribution (Inogwabini and Leader-Williams 2012 ; Krief et al 2010 ). One of those pathogens could also have been important in shaping the bonobo MHC diversity in their evolutionary past but this remains speculative at this point.…”

Potential zoonotic pathogens hosted by endangered bonobos

“…Usually, T. theileri infects Bovinae (cattle, buffalo, yaks, and some antelopes) and is prevalent in cattle throughout the world 55 . A previous study suggested that trypanosomiasis has been recorded among humans within the area of occurrence of bonobos and appears to be the most important disease shaping the area of occupancy of bonobos within their overall extent of occupancy 56 . Here, however, we also cannot exclude the possibility of contamination of bonobo feces by Trypanosoma -infected arthropods.…”

Flexible mixture model approaches that accommodate footprint size variability for robust detection of balancing selection

“…( Figure S15) has also been shown to be associated with antibody response to smallpox vaccines in humans (Ovsyannikova et al, 2012)-intriguingly, bonobos were found to tolerate monkeypox, the simian-borne poxvirus (Inogwabini and Leader-Williams, 2012).…”

“…Studies have demonstrated the relation of this gene to brain development (Yan et al, 1994), mood and cognitive disorders (Xu et al, 2011;Martinez and Gil, 2013;Pekcec et al, 2018;Betolngar et al, 2019), and hypertension (Kimura et al, 2017). Meanwhile, the PDE1A protein is also a conserved component of mammalian spermatozoa Vasta et al, 2005), and is involved in the movement of flagella-organelles featured in both animal sperms and some protozoa such as the Trypanosoma parasites (Oberholzer et al, 2007), with which the endemic geographical regions are avoided by bonobos (Inogwabini and Leader-Williams, 2012). Though it is difficult to judge for these genes which functions may be subject to selective pressures, they nonetheless indicate that pleiotropy can be an important driver of balancing selection.…”