11 research outputs found
Implementing One Health as an integrated approach to health in Rwanda
It is increasingly clear that resolution of complex global health problems requires interdisciplinary, intersectoral expertise and cooperation from governmental, non-governmental and educational agencies. ‘One Health’ refers to the collaboration of multiple disciplines and sectors working locally, nationally and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment. One Health offers the opportunity to acknowledge shared interests, set common goals, and drive toward team work to benefit the overall health of a nation. As in most countries, the health of Rwanda's people and economy are highly dependent on the health of the environment. Recently, Rwanda has developed a One Health strategic plan to meet its human, animal and environmental health challenges. This approach drives innovations that are important to solve both acute and chronic health problems and offers synergy across systems, resulting in improved communication, evidence-based solutions, development of a new generation of systems-thinkers, improved surveillance, decreased lag time in response, and improved health and economic savings. Several factors have enabled the One Health movement in Rwanda including an elaborate network of community health workers, existing rapid response teams, international academic partnerships willing to look more broadly than at a single disease or population, and relative equity between female and male health professionals. Barriers to implementing this strategy include competition over budget, poor communication, and the need for improved technology. Given the interconnectedness of our global community, it may be time for countries and their neighbours to follow Rwanda's lead and consider incorporating One Health principles into their national strategic health plans
Human Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in Confiscated Gorilla
In 2007, we detected human herpes simplex virus type 1, which caused stomatitis, in a juvenile confiscated eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) that had a high degree of direct contact with human caretakers. Our findings confirm that pathogens can transfer between nonhuman primate hosts and humans
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Human herpes simplex virus type 1 in confiscated gorilla.
In 2007, we detected human herpes simplex virus type 1, which caused stomatitis, in a juvenile confiscated eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) that had a high degree of direct contact with human caretakers. Our findings confirm that pathogens can transfer between nonhuman primate hosts and humans
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Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Detected in Mountain Gorilla Respiratory Outbreaks.
Respiratory illness (RI) accounts for a large proportion of mortalities in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), and fatal outbreaks, including disease caused by human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections, have heightened concern about the risk of human pathogen transmission to this endangered species, which is not only critically important to the biodiversity of its ecosystem but also to the economies of the surrounding human communities. Our goal was to conduct a molecular epidemiologic study to detect the presence of HRSV and HMPV in fecal samples from wild human-habituated free-ranging mountain gorillas in Rwanda and to evaluate the role of these viruses in RI outbreaks. Fecal samples were collected from gorillas with clinical signs of RI between June 2012 and February 2013 and tested by real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays; comparison fecal samples were obtained from gorillas without clinical signs of RI sampled during the 2010 Virunga gorilla population census. PCR assays detected HMPV and HRSV first in spiked samples; subsequently, HRSV-A, the worldwide-circulating ON1 genotype, was detected in 12 of 20 mountain gorilla fecal samples collected from gorillas with RI during outbreaks, but not in samples from animals without respiratory illness. Our findings confirmed that pathogenic human respiratory viruses are transmitted to gorillas and that they are repeatedly introduced into mountain gorilla populations from people, attesting to the need for stringent biosecurity measures for the protection of gorilla health
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Simian homologues of human herpesviruses and implications for novel viral introduction to free‐living mountain gorillas
The endangered mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo is frequently in contact with humans through tourism, research activities, and illegal entry of people into protected gorilla habitat. Herpesviruses, which are ubiquitous in primates, have the potential to be shared in any setting where humans and gorillas share habitat. Based on serological findings and clinical observations of orofacial ulcerated lesions resembling herpetic lesions, an alpha-herpesvirus resembling human herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has long been suspected to be present in human-habituated mountain gorillas in the wild. While the etiology of orofacial lesions in the wild has not been confirmed, HSV-1 has been suspected in captively-housed mountain gorillas and confirmed in a co-housed confiscated Grauer's gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri). To better characterize herpesviruses infecting mountain gorillas and to determine the presence/absence of HSV-1 in the free-living population, we conducted a population-wide survey to test for the presence of orally shed herpesviruses. DNA was extracted from discarded chewed plants collected from 294 individuals from 26 groups, and samples were screened by polymerase chain reaction using pan-herpesvirus and HSV-1-specific assays. We found no evidence that human herpesviruses had infected free-ranging mountain gorillas. However, we found gorilla-specific homologs to human herpesviruses, including cytomegaloviruses (GbbCMV-1 and 2), a lymphocryptovirus (GbbLCV-1), and a new rhadinovirus (GbbRHV-1) with similar characteristics (i.e., timing of primary infection, shedding in multiple age groups, and potential modes of transmission) to their human counterparts, human cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, respectively
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Mountain gorilla lymphocryptovirus has Epstein-Barr virus-like epidemiology and pathology in infants.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects greater than 90% of humans, is recognized as a significant comorbidity with HIV/AIDS, and is an etiologic agent for some human cancers. The critically endangered mountain gorilla population was suspected of infection with an EBV-like virus based on serology and infant histopathology similar to pulmonary reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (PRLH), a condition associated with EBV in HIV-infected children. To further examine the presence of EBV or an EBV-like virus in mountain gorillas, we conducted the first population-wide survey of oral samples for an EBV-like virus in a nonhuman great ape. We discovered that mountain gorillas are widely infected (n = 143/332) with a specific strain of lymphocryptovirus 1 (GbbLCV-1). Fifty-two percent of infant mountain gorillas were orally shedding GbbLCV-1, suggesting primary infection during this stage of life, similar to what is seen in humans in less developed countries. We then identified GbbLCV-1 in post-mortem infant lung tissues demonstrating histopathological lesions consistent with PRLH, suggesting primary infection with GbbLCV-1 is associated with PRLH in infants. Together, our findings demonstrate that mountain gorilla's infection with GbbLCV-1 could provide valuable information for human disease in a natural great ape setting and have potential conservation implications in this critically endangered species
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Implementing One Health as an integrated approach to health in Rwanda.
It is increasingly clear that resolution of complex global health problems requires interdisciplinary, intersectoral expertise and cooperation from governmental, non-governmental and educational agencies. 'One Health' refers to the collaboration of multiple disciplines and sectors working locally, nationally and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment. One Health offers the opportunity to acknowledge shared interests, set common goals, and drive toward team work to benefit the overall health of a nation. As in most countries, the health of Rwanda's people and economy are highly dependent on the health of the environment. Recently, Rwanda has developed a One Health strategic plan to meet its human, animal and environmental health challenges. This approach drives innovations that are important to solve both acute and chronic health problems and offers synergy across systems, resulting in improved communication, evidence-based solutions, development of a new generation of systems-thinkers, improved surveillance, decreased lag time in response, and improved health and economic savings. Several factors have enabled the One Health movement in Rwanda including an elaborate network of community health workers, existing rapid response teams, international academic partnerships willing to look more broadly than at a single disease or population, and relative equity between female and male health professionals. Barriers to implementing this strategy include competition over budget, poor communication, and the need for improved technology. Given the interconnectedness of our global community, it may be time for countries and their neighbours to follow Rwanda's lead and consider incorporating One Health principles into their national strategic health plans