Natural simian foamy virus infection in wild-caught gorillas, mandrills and drills from Cameroon and Gabon.
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.
Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes, Département EMMI, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Sara
S
Calattini
Centre Pasteur du Cameroon, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Eric
E
Nerrienet
Centre Pasteur du Cameroon, Yaoundé, Cameroon.|Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes, Département EMMI, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Philippe
P
Mauclère
Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Franceville, Gabon.
Marie-Claude
MC
Georges-Courbot
CNRS UPR 9051, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France.
Ali
A
Saïb
Unité d'Epidémiologie et Physiopathologie des Virus Oncogènes, Département EMMI, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
Antoine
A
Gessain
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D018420:Ape Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D003625:Data Collection; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D006071:Gorilla gorilla; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D048528:Mandrillus; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D016092:Spumavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014766:Viremia
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral; D019426:Integrases