Survey of Treponemal Infections in Free-Ranging and Captive Macaques, 1999-2012.

Survey results showed treponemal infection among pet macaques in Southeast Asia, a region with a high prevalence of human yaws. This finding, along with studies showing treponemal infection in nonhuman primates in Africa, should encourage a One Health approach to yaws eradication and surveillance activities, possibly including monitoring of nonhuman primates in yaws-endemic regions.

Human behavior and opportunities for parasite transmission in communities surrounding long-tailed macaque populations in Bali, Indonesia.

Spatial overlap and shared resources between humans and wildlife can exacerbate parasite transmission dynamics. In Bali, Indonesia, an agricultural-religious temple system provides sanctuaries for long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), concentrating them in areas in close proximity to humans. In this study, we interviewed individuals in communities surrounding 13 macaque populations about their willingness to participate in behaviors that would put them at risk of exposure to gastrointestinal parasites to understand if age, education level, or occupation are significant determinants of exposure behaviors. These exposure risk behaviors and attitudes include fear of macaques, direct contact with macaques, owning pet macaques, hunting and eating macaques, and overlapping water uses. We find that willingness to participate in exposure risk behaviors are correlated with an individual's occupation, age, and/or education level. We also found that because the actual risk of infection varies across populations, activities such as direct macaque contact and pet ownership, could be putting individuals at real risk in certain contexts. Thus, we show that human demographics and social structure can influence willingness to participate in behaviors putting them at increased risk for exposure to parasites.

Influenza virus infection in nonhuman primates.

To determine whether nonhuman primates are infected with influenza viruses in nature, we conducted serologic and swab studies among macaques from several parts of the world. Our detection of influenza virus and antibodies to influenza virus raises questions about the role of nonhuman primates in the ecology of influenza.

From the mouths of monkeys: detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA from buccal swabs of synanthropic macaques.

Although the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) infects a third of all humans, little is known regarding the prevalence of mycobacterial infection in nonhuman primates (NHP). For more than a century, tuberculosis has been regarded as a serious infectious threat to NHP species. Advances in the detection of MTBC open new possibilities for investigating the effects of this poorly understood pathogen in diverse populations of NHP. Here, we report results of a cross-sectional study using well-described molecular methods to detect a nucleic acid sequence (IS6110) unique to the MTBC. Sample collection was focused on the oral cavity, the presumed route of transmission of MTBC. Buccal swabs were collected from 263 macaques representing 11 species in four Asian countries and Gibraltar. Contexts of contact with humans included free ranging, pets, performing monkeys, zoos, and monkey temples. Following DNA isolation from buccal swabs, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified IS6110 from 84 (31.9%) of the macaques. In general, prevalence of MTBC DNA was higher among NHP in countries where the World Health Organization reports higher prevalence of humans infected with MTBC. This is the first demonstration of MTBC DNA in the mouths of macaques. Further research is needed to establish the significance of this finding at both the individual and population levels. PCR of buccal samples holds promise as a method to elucidate the mycobacterial landscape among NHP, particularly macaques that thrive in areas of high human MTBC prevalence.

Diverse contexts of zoonotic transmission of simian foamy viruses in Asia.

In Asia, contact between persons and nonhuman primates is widespread in multiple occupational and nonoccupational contexts. Simian foamy viruses (SFVs) are retroviruses that are prevalent in all species of nonhuman primates. To determine SFV prevalence in humans, we tested 305 persons who lived or worked around nonhuman primates in several South and Southeast Asian countries; 8 (2.6%) were confirmed SFV positive by Western blot and, for some, by PCR. The interspecies interactions that likely resulted in virus transmission were diverse; 5 macaque taxa were implicated as a potential source of infection. Phylogenetic analysis showed that SFV from 3 infected persons was similar to that from the nonhuman primate populations with which the infected persons reported contact. Thus, SFV infections are likely to be prevalent among persons who live or work near nonhuman primates in Asia.

Primate-to-human retroviral transmission in Asia.

We describe the first reported transmission to a human of simian foamy virus (SFV) from a free-ranging population of nonhuman primates in Asia. The transmission of an exogenous retrovirus, SFV, from macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to a human at a monkey temple in Bali, Indonesia, was investigated with molecular and serologic techniques. Antibodies to SFV were detected by Western blotting of serum from 1 of 82 humans tested. SFV DNA was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the blood of the same person. Cloning and sequencing of PCR products confirmed the virus's close phylogenetic relationship to SFV isolated from macaques at the same temple. This study raises concerns that persons who work at or live around monkey temples are at risk for infection with SFV.