Should monkeys wash their hands and feet: A pilot-study on sources of zoonotic parasite exposure

Abstract

Human exposure to zoonotic parasites via contaminated soil is a much studied area. Less research has been performed on exposure via contact with animals and surfaces such as picnic tables with which infected animals might be in contact. On St. Kitts, wild African green monkeys (AGM; Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus), which are known to have zoonotic parasites, roam freely in areas with outdoor dining facilities and are used in the tourist industry. In this study, the hands and feet of eight AGM and picnic tables where AGM were known to walk on were examined for parasitic organisms. Six of the AGM had parasitic organisms on their hands and/or feet. Trichuris spp. eggs, hookworm larvae and eggs and pinworm eggs were recovered from the tables. The results of this pilot study highlight other potential means of transfer of zoonotic parasites and suggest that surfaces without obvious fecal material can be contaminated with zoonotic parasites.

Case report: Control of intestinal nematodes in captive Chlorocebus sabaeus

“…Ten of the eleven (91%) wild-caught adult C. sabaeus study subjects, all male, employed in the study were infected with a variety of nematodes: Capillaria (8/11, 73%), T. trichiura (7/11, 64%), strongylids (7/11, 64%; hookworms and Trichostrongylus [50/50]) and Strongyloides fuelleborni ( S. fuelleborni ) (1/11, 9%) ( Tables 2 and 3 ). Whilst the latter species have been described in AGMs in Africa previously (Chapman et al 2016 ; Gallagher et al 2019 ; Yao et al 2018 ), our finding of Capillaria on the island is of note as eggs of this genus have not previously been reported in the faeces of AGMs.…”

“…Incomplete Caribbean studies have reported island AGMs to be infected with Trichuris trichiura (Yao et al 2018 ), Strongyloides sp. (Gallagher et al 2019 ; Ritchie et al 1967 ), Primasubulura sp. (Cameron 1930 ) and Schistosoma mansoni (Cameron 1928 ).…”

Habitat Patch Size and Landscape Structure Influence, Although Weakly, the Parasite Richness of an Arboreal Folivorous-frugivorous Primate in Anthropogenic Landscapes

“…If people and domestic animals enter the forest fragment and defecate on the oor, howlers may contact the infective stages of direct-soil parasites when descending to the ground to cross canopy gaps (Bicca-Marques and Calegaro-Marques 1995; Prates and Bicca-Marques 2008). The infective stages may be transferred to the hands and ingested accidentally (Vitazkova 2009;Gallagher et al 2019). An alternative non-mutually exclusive explanation for these relationships is that small fragment size and low forest cover are associated with low food availability.…”

Land use-induced spillover: priority actions for protected and conserved area managers

“…Although bites, crop raiding and the occupation of human dwellings by zoonotic pathogen hosts present obvious spillover risks, numerous more subtle but equally health-threatening issues arise from indirect contact with the saliva and excrement of wildlife. For example, on the Caribbean Island of Saint Kitts, Gallagher et al (2019) found that invasive African green monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) carried faeces containing zoonotic parasitic organisms on their hands and/or feet. Trichuris spp.…”