Diversity and sharing of strongylids in Cameroon
Strongylid nematodes are common intestinal parasites, infecting a wide range of mammalian taxa, including humans and non-human primates (NHPs). They have evolved to live in vertebrate hosts for months or years and form complex communities within these hosts. Heavy strongylid infections can cause severe intestinal inflammation, intestinal lesions, respiratory difficulties, iron deficiency anemia, weight loss, childhood stunting, and adverse birth outcomes. As human population and human settlements have grown rapidly in recent decades, people often live in close proximity to wildlife, allowing for cross-transmission of soil-transmitted helminths. Because humans and NHPs (especially great apes) are closely related to one another evolutionarily, it is easy for strongylids infecting one primate species to jump to a different primate hosts. This evolutionary relationship can result in overlap and reciprocal exchange of pathogens and can have a damaging effect both on humans and NHP endangered species populations. As DNA-based diagnosis has become a routine part of modern parasitology, we employed a modern high-throughput sequencing approach to describe complex communities and zoonotic patterns of parasitic strongylid nematodes infecting humans and great apes in Cameroon.