Simian retroviruses in African apes

Abstract

Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18: 514–520 Abstract It is now well established that simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) from chimpanzees (SIVcpz) and gorillas (SIVgor) from west Central Africa are at the origin of HIV‐1/AIDS. Apes are also infected with other retroviruses, notably simian T‐cell lymphotropic viruses (STLVs) and simian foamy viruses (SFVs), that can be transmitted to humans. We discuss the actual knowledge on SIV, STLV and SFV infections in chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. We especially elaborate on how the recent development of non‐invasive methods has allowed us to identify the reservoirs of the HIV‐1 ancestors in chimpanzees and gorillas, and increased our knowledge of the natural history of SIV infections in chimpanzees. Multiple cross‐species events with retroviruses from apes to humans have occurred, but only one transmission of SIVcpz from chimpanzees in south‐eastern Cameroon spread worldwide, and is responsible for the actual HIV pandemic. Frequent SFV transmissions have been recently reported, but no human‐to‐human transmission has been documented yet. Because humans are still in contact with apes, identification of pathogens in wild ape populations can signal which pathogens may be cause risk for humans, and allow the development of serological and molecular assays with which to detect transmissions to humans. Finally, non‐invasive sampling also allows the study of the impact of retroviruses and other pathogens on the health and survival of endangered species such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos.

Pathogenic Eukaryotes in Gut Microbiota of Western Lowland Gorillas as Revealed by Molecular Survey

“…Gorillas share a close phylogenetic relationship with humans, resulting in a high potential for pathogen exchange involving bacteria, viruses and gastrointestinal parasites567. Moreover, the presence of these pathogens in wild primates may also have negative consequences for public health and wildlife conservation management8.…”

Isolation of a simian immunodeficiency virus from a malbrouck (Chlorocebus cynosuros)

“…Old World monkeys and great apes are infected with a diversity of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) in greater than 40 species of nonhuman primates (NHPs) [1]. SIVs segregate largely into host-specific clades and recombination, cross-species transmission events and spread in new hosts has been documented [2,3].…”

“…Although surveillance of simian retroviruses has been performed in a number of African countries [1], there is no previous report of surveillance of the infection rates and diversity of simian retroviruses in Zambia where human contact with NHPs is not uncommon. AGMs (Chlorocebus spp.)…”

“…Development of non-invasive sampling methods for the characterisation of SIV in faecal and urine samples has stimulated studies of the natural history of SIV of endangered species such as chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos [1]. The blood and spleen tissue samples collected from AGMs and yellow baboons in the present study were collected in 2008 and 2009 prior to the advent of these non-invasive sampling methodologies.…”

“…The blood and spleen tissue samples collected from AGMs and yellow baboons in the present study were collected in 2008 and 2009 prior to the advent of these non-invasive sampling methodologies. These non-invasive sampling approaches have greatly boosted studies on the health and long-term survival by analysing the simian faecal virome [1]. Further studies in Zambia will focus on the development of these noninvasive sampling approaches to study the natural history of simian retroviruses in NHPs.…”