Potential zoonotic pathogens hosted by endangered bonobos.

Few publications, often limited to one specific pathogen, have studied bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living relatives, as possible reservoirs of certain human infectious agents. Here, 91 stool samples from semicaptive bonobos and bonobos reintroduced in the wild, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were screened for different infectious agents: viruses, bacteria and parasites. We showed the presence of potentially zoonotic viral, bacterial or parasitic agents in stool samples, sometimes coinfecting the same individuals. A high prevalence of Human mastadenoviruses (HAdV-C, HAdV-B, HAdV-E) was observed. Encephalomyocarditis viruses were identified in semicaptive bonobos, although identified genotypes were different from those identified in the previous fatal myocarditis epidemic at the same site in 2009. Non-pallidum Treponema spp. including symbiotic T. succinifaciens, T. berlinense and several potential new species with unknown pathogenicity were identified. We detected DNA of non-tuberculosis Mycobacterium spp., Acinetobacter spp., Salmonella spp. as well as pathogenic Leptospira interrogans. Zoonotic parasites such as Taenia solium and Strongyloides stercoralis were predominantly present in wild bonobos, while Giardia lamblia was found only in bonobos in contact with humans, suggesting a possible exchange. One third of bonobos carried Oesophagostomum spp., particularly zoonotic O. stephanostomum and O. bifurcum-like species, as well as other uncharacterized Nematoda. Trypanosoma theileri has been identified in semicaptive bonobos. Pathogens typically known to be transmitted sexually were not identified. We present here the results of a reasonably-sized screening study detecting DNA/RNA sequence evidence of potentially pathogenic viruses and microorganisms in bonobo based on a noninvasive sampling method (feces) and focused PCR diagnostics.

The saliva microbiome of Pan and Homo.

BACKGROUND: It is increasingly recognized that the bacteria that live in and on the human body (the microbiome) can play an important role in health and disease. The composition of the microbiome is potentially influenced by both internal factors (such as phylogeny and host physiology) and external factors (such as diet and local environment), and interspecific comparisons can aid in understanding the importance of these factors. RESULTS: To gain insights into the relative importance of these factors on saliva microbiome diversity, we here analyze the saliva microbiomes of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) from two sanctuaries in Africa, and from human workers at each sanctuary. The saliva microbiomes of the two Pan species are more similar to one another, and the saliva microbiomes of the two human groups are more similar to one another, than are the saliva microbiomes of human workers and apes from the same sanctuary. We also looked for the existence of a core microbiome and find no evidence for a taxon-based core saliva microbiome for Homo or Pan. In addition, we studied the saliva microbiome from apes from the Leipzig Zoo, and found an extraordinary diversity in the zoo ape saliva microbiomes that is not found in the saliva microbiomes of the sanctuary animals. CONCLUSIONS: The greater similarity of the saliva microbiomes of the two Pan species to one another, and of the two human groups to one another, are in accordance with both the phylogenetic relationships of the hosts as well as with host physiology. Moreover, the results from the zoo animals suggest that novel environments can have a large impact on the microbiome, and that microbiome analyses based on captive animals should be viewed with caution as they may not reflect the microbiome of animals in the wild.

Sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas harbor convergent gut microbial communities.

The gut microbial communities within great apes have been shown to reflect the phylogenetic history of their hosts, indicating codiversification between great apes and their gut microbiota over evolutionary timescales. But because the great apes examined to date represent geographically isolated populations whose diets derive from different sources, it is unclear whether this pattern of codiversification has resulted from a long history of coadaptation between microbes and hosts (heritable factors) or from the ecological and geographic separation among host species (environmental factors). To evaluate the relative influences of heritable and environmental factors on the evolution of the great ape gut microbiota, we assayed the gut communities of sympatric and allopatric populations of chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas residing throughout equatorial Africa. Comparisons of these populations revealed that the gut communities of different host species can always be distinguished from one another but that the gut communities of sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas have converged in terms of community composition, sharing on average 53% more bacterial phylotypes than the gut communities of allopatric hosts. Host environment, independent of host genetics and evolutionary history, shaped the distribution of bacterial phylotypes across the Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, the four most common phyla of gut bacteria. Moreover, the specific patterns of phylotype sharing among hosts suggest that chimpanzees living in sympatry with gorillas have acquired bacteria from gorillas. These results indicate that geographic isolation between host species has promoted the evolutionary differentiation of great ape gut bacterial communities.

Diversity of microsporidia (Fungi: Microsporidia) among captive great apes in European zoos and African sanctuaries: evidence for zoonotic transmission?

Abstract: Two hundred and seventeen captive great apes (150 chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes; 14 bonobos, Pan paniscus; 53 western gorillas, Gorilla gorilla) and 20 personnel from thirteen European zoos and two African sanctuaries were sampled and examined in order to determine the occurrence ofEnterocytozoon bieneusi and species of Encephalitozoon in faecal specimens and to compare the epidemiological situation between zoos and sanctuaries. Microsporidia were detected at all sampling sites. Sequence analyses of ITS amplicons generated by using microsporidia-specific primers determined the presence ofmicrosporidia in 87 samples including 13 humans; since two cases of simultaneous occurrence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Enterocytozoon bieneusi were identified, 89 full-length ITS sequences were obtained, namely 78 Encephalitozoon cuniculi genotype I, five E. cuniculi genotype II, two E. hellem 1A and four Enterocytozoon bieneusi. No Encephalitozoon intestinalis-positive samples were identified. This is the first report of Encephalitozoon species and Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotypes in captive great apes kept under various conditions and the first record of natural infection with E. hellem in great apes. A comparison of zoos and sanctuaries showed a significantly higher prevalence of microsporidia in sanctuaries (P<0.001), raising a question about the factors affecting the occurrence of microsporidia in epidemiologically and sanitarily comparable types of facilities.