Evidence against Zika virus infection of pets and peri-domestic animals in Latin America and Africa

Abstract

Decades after its discovery in East Africa, Zika virus (ZIKV) emerged in Brazil in 2013 and infected millions of people during intense urban transmission. Whether vertebrates other than humans are involved in ZIKV transmission cycles remained unclear. Here, we investigate the role of different animals as ZIKV reservoirs by testing 1723 sera of pets, peri-domestic animals and African non-human primates (NHP) sampled during 2013–2018 in Brazil and 2006–2016 in Côte d'Ivoire. Exhaustive neutralization testing substantiated co-circulation of multiple flaviviruses and failed to confirm ZIKV infection in pets or peri-domestic animals in Côte d'Ivoire (n=259) and Brazil (n=1416). In contrast, ZIKV seroprevalence was 22.2% (2/9, 95% CI, 2.8–60.1) in West African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and 11.1% (1/9, 95% CI, 0.3–48.3) in king colobus (Colobus polycomos). Our results indicate that while NHP may represent ZIKV reservoirs in Africa, pets or peri-domestic animals likely do not play a role in ZIKV transmission cycles.

Serological evidence for potential yellow fever virus infection in non-human primates, southeastern Mexico

“…On the one hand, we cannot exclude that antigenically related flaviviruses could also have elicited cross-reactive antibodies. This hypothesis is compatible with the detection of a monotypic neutralizing antibody response against Wesselsbron virus in a single Brazilian cow during a sero-epidemiological investigation of several thousand sera from livestock and pets [ 28 ]. On the other hand, no flavivirus belonging to the yellow fever serogroup beyond YFV (e.g., Banzi, Bouboui, Jugra, Potiskum, Saboya, Sepik and Wesselsbron viruses) has ever been reported in the Americas, the aforementioned viruses are all endemic to Africa and Asia [ 28 – 31 ].…”

“…This hypothesis is compatible with the detection of a monotypic neutralizing antibody response against Wesselsbron virus in a single Brazilian cow during a sero-epidemiological investigation of several thousand sera from livestock and pets [ 28 ]. On the other hand, no flavivirus belonging to the yellow fever serogroup beyond YFV (e.g., Banzi, Bouboui, Jugra, Potiskum, Saboya, Sepik and Wesselsbron viruses) has ever been reported in the Americas, the aforementioned viruses are all endemic to Africa and Asia [ 28 – 31 ]. Additionally, the three YFV-seropositive individuals presented neutralizing antibodies titers either monotypic or higher than fourfold against the other flavivirus serocomplexes, which is deemed highly robust and decisive for flavivirus serological diagnosis [ 32 ].…”

Fetal loss in pregnant rhesus macaques infected with high-dose African-lineage Zika virus

“…In addition to posing a threat to human health, pregnancy loss could be especially consequential to endangered Great Apes that live in areas where ZIKV is endemic. For example, serologic assays in wild Great Apes from Africa indicate 13% (5 of 40) of orangutans [ 27 ], 22.2% (2 of 9) of chimpanzees [ 28 ], and 2.3% of feral apes [ 29 ] had anti-ZIKV antibodies, although the serology data from these studies is limited by potential cross-reactivity to other flaviviruses.…”

Towards the invasion of wild and rural forested areas in Gabon (Central Africa) by the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus: Potential risks from the one health perspective

“…The LNP hosts a very abundant and highly diversified wildlife (>400 birds, 14 primates, 12 carnivores, 12 ungulate species, and >30 species of PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES rodents and bats) [26] among which there are typical wildlife reservoirs of an extraordinary diversity of mosquito-borne enzootic viruses. For instance, nine species of monkeys present in the LNP (including 3 Cercopithecus, 1 Cercocebus, and 1 Colobus) are natural reservoirs of yellow fever, CHIKV, ZIKV and other arboviruses [62][63][64][65][66]. Repeated contacts between Ae.…”