Adenovirus and Herpesvirus Diversity in Free Ranging Great Apes in the Sangha Region of the Republic of Congo

Infectious diseases have caused die-offs in both free-ranging gorillas and chimpanzees. Understanding pathogen diversity and disease ecology is therefore critical for conserving these endangered animals. To determine viral diversity in free-ranging, non-habituated gorillas and chimpanzees in the Republic of Congo, genetic testing was performed on great-ape fecal samples collected near Odzala-Kokoua National Park. Samples were analyzed to determine ape species, identify individuals in the population, and to test for the presence of herpesviruses, adenoviruses, poxviruses, bocaviruses, flaviviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses, filoviruses, and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). We identified 19 DNA viruses representing two viral families, Herpesviridae and Adenoviridae, of which three herpesviruses had not been previously described. Co-detections of multiple herpesviruses and/or adenoviruses were present in both gorillas and chimpanzees. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and lymphocryptovirus (LCV) were found primarily in the context of co-association with each other and adenoviruses. Using viral discovery curves for herpesviruses and adenoviruses, the total viral richness in the sample population of gorillas and chimpanzees was estimated to be a minimum of 23 viruses, corresponding to a detection rate of 83%. These findings represent the first description of DNA viral diversity in feces from free-ranging gorillas and chimpanzees in or near the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and form a basis for understanding the types of viruses circulating among great apes in this region

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Lek-associated movement of a putative Ebolavirus reservoir, the hammer-headed fruit bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), in northern Republic of Congo.

The biology and ecology of Africa's largest fruit bat remains largely understudied and enigmatic despite at least two highly unusual attributes. The acoustic lek mating behavior of the hammer-headed bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus) in the Congo basin was first described in the 1970s. More recently molecular testing implicated this species and other African bats as potential reservoir hosts for Ebola virus and it was one of only two fruit bat species epidemiologically linked to the 2008 Luebo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola outbreak. Here we share findings from the first pilot study of hammer-headed bat movement using GPS tracking and accelerometry units and a small preceding radio-tracking trial at an apparent lekking site. The radio-tracking revealed adult males had high rates of nightly visitation to the site compared to females (only one visit) and that two of six females day-roosted ~100 m west of Libonga, the nearest village that is ~1.6 km southwest. Four months later, in mid-April 2018, five individual bats, comprised of four males and one female, were tracked from two to 306 days, collecting from 67 to 1022 GPS locations. As measured by mean distance to the site and proportion of nightly GPS locations within 1 km of the site (percent visitation), the males were much more closely associated with the site (mean distance 1.4 km; 51% visitation), than the female (mean 5.5 km; 2.2% visitation). Despite the small sample size, our tracking evidence supports our original characterization of the site as a lek, and the lek itself is much more central to male than female movement. Moreover, our pilot demonstrates the technical feasibility of executing future studies on hammer-headed bats that will help fill problematic knowledge gaps about zoonotic spillover risks and the conservation needs of fruit bats across the continent

Estimating viral richness of herpesviruses and adenoviruses in great apes of the Sangha region.

<p>A. We calculated the total viral richness in chimpanzees and gorillas associated with the Adenoviridae and Herpesviridae families. ICE and Jackknife estimators are shown as orange and grey curves respectively. The refraction curve (black) shows the number of virus groups or viruses as a function of the number of samples, and the collector curve (red) shows the accumulation of viruses found with increasing sample size. The Chao2 estimator (blue) shows the number of viruses that are estimated in the ape population with 95% confidence intervals indicated by the brackets. The horizontal bar shows the number of viruses estimated in the analysis. In B, C, and D separate richness analyses were done for the Herpesviridae subfamilies (<i>Betaherpesvirinae</i> and <i>Gammaherpesvirinae</i>) and <i>Adenoviridae</i>.</p

Viral co-detection in chimpanzee and gorilla fecal samples.

<p>A. Graph depicting the type and number of viruses detected in fecal samples from individual great apes. Gorillas are highlighted in green and chimpanzees are highlighted in blue. B. Matrix analysis showing all 19 detected viruses or viral groups and the number of pair-wise combinations with each other. On the left side of the matrix is a heat map showing the number of individuals positive for co-detection of two viruses as is indicated in the red color key. For example, feces from 12 individuals, highlighted in maroon (>8 samples detected with that virus combination), were positive for both GgorLCV1 and SAdVGroupOKNP. The upper right half of the matrix (mirror image of lower left) are the number of individuals that tested positive for co-detection, with colors indicating which species, or if both were affected.</p

Virus prevalence in chimpanzees and gorillas.

<p>Virus prevalence in chimpanzees and gorillas.</p

Location of sites and phylogenetic tree of herpesvirus lineages found in gorillas and chimpanzees.

<p>A. Map of the Republic of Congo showing the location of Odzala-Kokoua National Park (arrow) and the study area (yellow box). B. Shows the 12 sites where the samples were collected. Blue dots show where each sample was collected and the crosses show the extent of the survey sites. C. Phylogenetic tree of betaherpesviruses found in gorillas and chimpanzees. The tree was constructed through a nucleotide alignment of the herpesvirus CMV glycoprotein B gene using Bayesian analysis. Sample identification (WDG number) and Genbank accession numbers are shown. Bayesian posterior probabilities of branching demonstrate the robustness of the individual groups. <i>Tupaiid herpesvirus 1</i> was used as the outgroup.</p