Fw: Ref.: (LML) Leprosy in wild chimpanzees

 

Leprosy Mailing List – October 22,  2021

 

Ref.:  (LML) Leprosy in wild chimpanzees

 

From:  Henk Eggens, Santa Comba Dão, Portugal

 

Dear Pieter,

I would like to alert LML-readers on the following article in Nature:
Published: 13 October 2021

Leprosy in wild chimpanzees
Kimberley J. Hockings et al.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03968-4

Abstract
Humans are considered as the main host for Mycobacterium leprae, the aetiological agent of leprosy, but spillover has occurred to other mammals that are now maintenance hosts, such as nine-banded armadillos and red squirrels. Although naturally acquired leprosy has also been described in captive nonhuman primates, the exact origins of infection remain unclear. Here we describe leprosy-like lesions in two wild populations of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau and Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa.
Longitudinal monitoring of both populations revealed the progression of disease symptoms compatible with advanced leprosy. Screening of faecal and necropsy samples confirmed the presence of M.leprae as the causative agent at each site and phylogenomic comparisons with other strains from humans and other animals show that the chimpanzee strains belong to different and rare genotypes (4N/O and 2F). These findings suggest that M.leprae may be circulating in more wild animals than suspected, either as a result of exposure to humans or other unknown environmental sources.


Best,

Henk Eggens

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Henk Eggens

(henk.eggens@gmail.com)

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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