Natural simian foamy virus infection in wild-caught gorillas, mandrills and drills from Cameroon and Gabon

Abstract

A survey for the presence of simian foamy retroviruses (SFVs) was performed in 44 wild-caught apes and monkeys, including 27 gorillas, 11 mandrills and six drills, originating from south Cameroon or Gabon. Combined serological and/or nested-PCR assays indicated SFV infection among five Gorilla gorilla gorilla, seven Mandrillus sphinx and two Mandrillus leucophaeus. Sequences of a 425 bp fragment of the integrase gene were obtained for 11 animals. Phylogenetic studies indicated that strains from gorillas, mandrills and drills each formed a highly supported phylogenetic clade with, moreover, the existence of two different gorilla SFVs. This study demonstrates for the first time that these animals are naturally infected with specific SFVs. In the context of simian-to-human interspecies transmission, the results confirm that such viruses can also infect humans, as the SFVs identified in wild-caught animals were the same as those recently reported as infecting hunters living in the same geographical areas.

Restriction of Foamy Viruses by APOBEC Cytidine Deaminases

“…A significant diversity is observed among FVs VOL. 80, 2006 FOAMY VIRUS RESTRICTION BY APOBEC CYTIDINE DEAMINASES 611 from different simian species, suggesting that cross-species infection was associated with adaptative changes (7,15). However, within each monkey species, viral persistence is associated with strong genetic stability.…”

“…1D). We also studied the susceptibility of primary FV strains, isolated from naturally infected macaques (7). To study the effect of hA3G, we compared viral spread in control HeLa cells and in HeLa cells stably expressing hA3G (HeLa-hA3G cells) (27).…”

“…These viruses are innocuous in naturally or experimentally infected animals, in which they induce persistent, lifelong infections (35). SFVs are readily transmitted via saliva, and seroprevalence exceeds rates of 70% in some species (7,15,44). Several cases of simian-tohuman transmissions have been reported, generally after bites or scratches (8,22,23,69).…”

“…They are highly prevalent in nonhuman primates, and at least 11 different simian FV (SFV) viral subtypes have been described in monkey species (7,15,44). FVs are particularly well adapted to their natural hosts.…”

Cross-Species Transmission of Simian Foamy Virus to Humans in Rural Gabon, Central Africa

“…Most of the captive animals examined have been macaques and baboons (3,7). Recently, it was shown that colonies of NHPs living in the wild, including various species of monkeys and apes in Africa (mandrills, gorillas, chimpanzees) and Asia (subspecies of macaques), are also infected with simian foamy virus (SFV) (6,13,17). The oral mucosa has been shown to be the main site of SFV replication in vivo, and saliva appears to be the principal reservoir of SFV (20).…”