Abstract
One of the current threats to the bonobo (Pan paniscus), a highly endangered ape species only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are anthropozoonoses caused by human respiratory viruses. To date, epidemiological information regarding respiratory viral infections in bonobos is limited. In this study, we examined fecal immunoglobulin A antibodies against human respiratory viruses in bonobos, which may help estimating the viral prevalence. A substantial proportion of bonobos were positive for the antiviral antibodies, including those against parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus, rhinovirus, and mumps virus. The prevalence of the antibodies was found to depend on the viral species and bonobo populations, suggesting that the bonobos had been exposed to these respiratory viruses. These results may indicate the need for an epidemiological evidence-based action plan for the protection of bonobos from anthropozoonoses.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Akino Watanabe, Shohei Watanabe, Tomoko Ikoma, and Ayaka Washizaki for their technical assistance. We also wish to thank the staff of the Wamba Committee for Bonobo Research, the Centre de Recherche en Ecologie et Foresterie, the African Wildlife Foundation, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, and the Tshuapa-Lomami-Lualaba Project for field research assistance. This research was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (D-1007 to T. Furuichi) from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (19405015 to C. Hashimoto, 20212194 to T. Furuichi, and 23510295 to T. Yoshida), the Asia-Africa Science Platform Program (2009–2011 and 2012–2014 to T. Furuichi) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Cooperation Research Program (2012 to T. Yoshida) of the Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University.
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Yoshida, T., Takemoto, H., Sakamaki, T. et al. Prevalence of antibodies against human respiratory viruses potentially involving anthropozoonoses in wild bonobos. Primates 62, 897–903 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00935-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-021-00935-5