title: High Rate of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) Infections in Wild Chimpanzees in Northeastern Gabon.
abstract: The emergence of HIV-1 groups M, N, O, and P is the result of four independent cross-species transmissions between chimpanzees (cpz) and gorillas (gor) from central/south Cameroon and humans respectively. Although the first two SIVcpz were identified in wild-born captive chimpanzees in Gabon in 1989, no study has been conducted so far in wild chimpanzees in Gabon. To document the SIVcpz infection rate, genetic diversity, and routes of virus transmission, we analyzed 1458 faecal samples collected in 16 different locations across the country, and we conducted follow-up missions in two of them. We found 380 SIV antibody positive samples in 6 different locations in the north and northeast. We determined the number of individuals collected by microsatellite analysis and obtained an adjusted SIV prevalence of 39.45%. We performed parental analysis to investigate viral spread between and within communities and found that SIVs were epidemiologically linked and were transmitted by both horizontal and vertical routes. We amplified pol and gp41 fragments and obtained 57 new SIVcpzPtt strains from three sites. All strains, but one, clustered together within a specific phylogeographic clade. Given that these SIV positive samples have been collected nearby villages and that humans continue to encroach in ape's territories, the emergence of a new HIV in this area needs to be considered.
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. svetnina@yahoo.fr.|Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. svetnina@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Vanina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boué
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. sabrina.locatelli@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. floriane.boucher@wanadoo.fr.|Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. floriane.boucher@wanadoo.fr.
authors.forename: Floriane
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boucher
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. ahidjo.ayouba@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Ahidjo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayouba
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. christelle.butel@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Butel
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. amandine.esteban@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Amandine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. aokouga@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alain-Prince
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Okouga
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. alphonsendoungouet@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alphonse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ndoungouet
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. p.motsch@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Motsch
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. leflohg@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Le Flohic
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. paul_ngari@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ngari
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. franck.prugnolle@ird.fr.|Laboratoire Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution, Contrôle, UMR 224IRD/CNRS/UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France4 Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom-Penh BP 983, Royaume du Cambodge. franck.prugnolle@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prugnolle
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. bollomo@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ollomo
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. franrouet@yahoo.fr.|Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom-Penh BP 983, Royaume du Cambodge. franrouet@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rouet
authors.affiliation: UMI 233 "TransVIHMI", IRD / UM-INSERM U1175/ UM1, 34394 Montpellier, France. florian.liegeois@ird.fr.|Centre International de Recherches Médicales, BP 769 Franceville, Gabon. florian.liegeois@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liégeois
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015684:Gene Products, pol; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015684:Gene Products, pol; D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: AIDS; Africa; Chimpanzee; SIV; antibody; microsatellite; prevalence; primate; retrovirus; transmission