title: Identification of hepatitis B virus genome in faecal sample from wild living chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) in Gabon.
abstract: Non-invasive faecal sampling in the equatorial forest in Gabon allowed the first identification of the hepatitis B virus (HBV-Ch(RC170)) genome in samples collected from wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes). The HBV-Ch(RCl70)sequence clustered with 100% bootstrap support with previous viral sequences obtained from Pan troglodytes subspecies. This is the first evidence of HBV infection in wild apes and confirms that the HBV-like strains thus far characterized in captive apes are directly related to those circulating in the wild.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Rétrovirologie, Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Franceville, Gabon. mmakuwa@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makuwa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Souquière
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mouinga-Ondeme
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bawe-Johnson
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wickings
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Latour
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roques
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005681:Gabon; D016679:Genome, Viral; D015613:Hepadnaviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000821:virology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018419:Primate Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA