Isolation of Treponema DNA from Necrophagous Flies in a Natural Ecosystem

Knauf, Sascha; Raphael, Jane; Mitjà, Oriol; Lejora, Inyasi A. V.; Chuma, Idrissa S.; Batamuzi, E. K.; Keyyu, Julius D.; Fyumagwa, Robert D.; Lüert, Simone; Godornes, Charmie; Liu, Hsi; Schwarz, Christiane; Šmajs, David; Grange, P.; Zinner, Dietmar; Roos, Christian; Lukehart, Sheila A.

doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.07.033

Cited by 29 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Vertebrate faecal metabolites (urobilinoids) detected in adult blow fly guts represent a potential means to identify when mammalian DNA originated from contact with faeces, which might help future research differentiate the source of mammalian DNA found in flies (Owings, Skaggs, Sheriff, Manicke, & Picard, 2018). Despite the potential rarity of carcass DNA in flies, our results certainly lend further support for such an approach for monitoring bacterial pathogens (Hoffmann et al, 2017;Knauf et al, 2016). Guenno et al, 1995).…”

Section: 030mentioning

confidence: 64%

“…Flies have long been hypothesized to play a role in the epidemiology of yaws, with studies showing that flies can carry treponemes from lesions (Kumm, 1935;Satchell & Harrison, 1953) and, in experimental conditions, that flies transmitted the parasite from one host to another when feeding on lesions (Kumm & Turner, 1936). Furthermore, a high proportion of flies captured in two national parks in Tanzania, where wild olive baboons (Papio anubis) are infected with TPE, were found to contain T. pallidum DNA (Knauf et al, 2016); based on the low variability of the genomic regions of T. pallidum examined in their study, it was not possible to definitively determine which subspecies of T. pallidum was present in these flies, although the authors argue their results suggest that flies often come into contact with the spirochete on these baboons as there is no evidence for other T. pallidum subspecies circulating in this ecosystem (Knauf et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates

et al. 2019

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Living in groups provides benefits but also incurs costs such as attracting disease vectors. For example, synanthropic flies associate with human settlements, and higher fly densities increase pathogen transmission. We investigated whether such associations also exist in highly mobile nonhuman primate (NHP) Groups. We studied flies in a group of wild sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys atys) and three communities of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. We observed markedly higher fly densities within both mangabey and chimpanzee groups. Using a mark–recapture experiment, we showed that flies stayed with the sooty mangabey group for up to 12 days and for up to 1.3 km. We also tested mangabey‐associated flies for pathogens infecting mangabeys in this ecosystem, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis (Bcbva), causing sylvatic anthrax, and Treponema pallidum pertenue, causing yaws. Flies contained treponemal (6/103) and Bcbva (7/103) DNA. We cultured Bcbva from all PCR‐positive flies, confirming bacterial viability and suggesting that this bacterium might be transmitted and disseminated by flies. Whole genome sequences of Bcbva isolates revealed a diversity of Bcbva, probably derived from several sources. We conclude that flies actively track mangabeys and carry infectious bacterial pathogens; these associations represent an understudied cost of sociality and potentially expose many social animals to a diversity of pathogens.

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Section: 030mentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates

et al. 2019

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“…A possible important alternate route of infection has been discussed through the involvement of flies as a vector ( 27 , 28 ). Although both options are at least theoretically possible for NHPs ( 13 ), direct contact should be considered the most likely way of intraspecies and interspecies transmission. Such transmission is further supported by reports of the close association and interaction (play, fight, or hunt) among different NHP species ( 29 – 31 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We added an additional washing step using 300 μL AW1 buffer and eluted the DNA twice with 100 μL AE buffer. We further purified extracted DNA using glycogen precipitation according to the protocol published in Knauf et al ( 13 ). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WidespreadTreponema pallidumInfection in Nonhuman Primates, Tanzania

Chuma¹,

Batamuzi²,

Collins³

et al. 2018

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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We investigated Treponema pallidum infection in 8 nonhuman primate species (289 animals) in Tanzania during 2015–2017. We used a serologic treponemal test to detect antibodies against the bacterium. Infection was further confirmed from tissue samples of skin-ulcerated animals by 3 independent PCRs (polA, tp47, and TP_0619). Our findings indicate that T. pallidum infection is geographically widespread in Tanzania and occurs in several species (olive baboons, yellow baboons, vervet monkeys, and blue monkeys). We found the bacterium at 11 of 14 investigated geographic locations. Anogenital ulceration was the most common clinical manifestation; orofacial lesions also were observed. Molecular data show that nonhuman primates in Tanzania are most likely infected with T. pallidum subsp. pertenue–like strains, which could have implications for human yaws eradication.

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“…Pet monkeys may also function as a Treponema-reservoir for humans (32). Furthermore, it has been suggested that treponemes may be transmitted by flies (33)(34)(35)(36). In this context it may seem surprising that Tanzania, where NHPs are infected with potentially zoonotic TPE strains (13), has not reported human yaws for decades.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

African nonhuman primates are infected with the yaws bacteriumTreponema pallidumsubsp.pertenue

Knauf

Gogarten

Schuenemann

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue (TPE) is the causative agent of yaws. The disease was subject to global eradication efforts in the mid 20th century but reemerged in West Africa, Southern Asia, and the Pacific region. Despite its importance for eradication, detailed data on possible nonhuman disease reservoirs are missing. A number of African nonhuman primates (NHPs) have been reported to show skin ulcerations suggestive of treponemal infection in humans. Furthermore antibodies against Treponema pallidum (TP) have been repeatedly detected in wild NHP populations. While genetic studies confirmed that NHPs are infected with TP strains, subspecies identification was only possible once for a strain isolated in 1966, pinpointing the involvement of TPE. We therefore collected a number of recently isolated simian TP strains and determined eight whole genome sequences using hybridization capture or long-range PCR combined with next-generation sequencing. These new genomes were compared with those of known human TP isolates. Our results show that naturally occurring simian TP strains circulating in three African NHP species all cluster with human TPE strains and show the same genomic structure as human TPE strains. These data indicate that humans are not the exclusive host for the yaws bacterium and that a One Health approach is required to achieve sustainable eradication of human yaws.

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Isolation of Treponema DNA from Necrophagous Flies in a Natural Ecosystem

Cited by 29 publications

References 30 publications

Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates

Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates

WidespreadTreponema pallidumInfection in Nonhuman Primates, Tanzania

African nonhuman primates are infected with the yaws bacteriumTreponema pallidumsubsp.pertenue

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