scholarly journals African great apes are natural hosts of multiple related malaria species, including Plasmodium falciparum

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 1458-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Prugnolle ◽  
P. Durand ◽  
C. Neel ◽  
B. Ollomo ◽  
F. J. Ayala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Natural Hosts ◽  
Malaria Species ◽  
African Great Apes

scholarly journals Wild African great apes as natural hosts of malaria parasites: current knowledge and research perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Marie De Nys ◽  
Therese Löhrich ◽  
Doris Wu ◽  
Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer ◽  
Fabian Hubertus Leendertz
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Great Ape ◽  
Malaria Parasites ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Parasite Ecology ◽  
Natural Hosts ◽  
African Great Apes

Abstract. Humans and African great apes (AGAs) are naturally infected with several species of closely related malaria parasites. The need to understand the origins of human malaria as well as the risk of zoonotic transmissions and emergence of new malaria strains in human populations has markedly encouraged research on great ape Plasmodium parasites. Progress in the use of non-invasive methods has rendered investigations into wild ape populations possible. Present knowledge is mainly focused on parasite diversity and phylogeny, with still large gaps to fill on malaria parasite ecology. Understanding what malaria infection means in terms of great ape health is also an important, but challenging avenue of research and has been subject to relatively few research efforts so far. This paper reviews current knowledge on African great ape malaria and identifies gaps and future research perspectives.

scholarly journals Assessing Host-Virus Codivergence for Close Relatives of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infecting African Great Apes

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (19) ◽  
pp. 8531-8541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadège F. Madinda ◽  
Bernhard Ehlers ◽  
Joel O. Wertheim ◽  
Chantal Akoua-Koffi ◽  
Richard A. Bergl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Viral Evolution ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Merkel Cell Polyomavirus ◽  
Merkel Cell ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Animal Hosts ◽  
African Great Apes

ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that polyomaviruses (PyV; familyPolyomaviridae) codiverged with their animal hosts. In contrast, recent analyses suggested that codivergence may only marginally influence the evolution of PyV. We reassess this question by focusing on a single lineage of PyV infecting hominine hosts, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) lineage. By characterizing the genetic diversity of these viruses in seven African great ape taxa, we show that they exhibit very strong host specificity. Reconciliation analyses identify more codivergence than noncodivergence events. In addition, we find that a number of host and PyV divergence events are synchronous. Collectively, our results support codivergence as the dominant process at play during the evolution of the MCPyV lineage. More generally, our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting an ancient and stable association of PyV and their animal hosts.IMPORTANCEThe processes involved in viral evolution and the interaction of viruses with their hosts are of great scientific interest and public health relevance. It has long been thought that the genetic diversity of double-stranded DNA viruses was generated over long periods of time, similar to typical host evolutionary timescales. This was also hypothesized for polyomaviruses (familyPolyomaviridae), a group comprising several human pathogens, but this remains a point of controversy. Here, we investigate this question by focusing on a single lineage of polyomaviruses that infect both humans and their closest relatives, the African great apes. We show that these viruses exhibit considerable host specificity and that their evolution largely mirrors that of their hosts, suggesting that codivergence with their hosts played a major role in their diversification. Our results provide statistical evidence in favor of an association of polyomaviruses and their hosts over millions of years.

scholarly journals Molecular Evidence of High Proportion ofPlasmodium vivaxMalaria Infection in White Nile Area in Sudan

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makarim M. Adam Suliman ◽  
Bushra M. Hamad ◽  
Musab M. Ali Albasheer ◽  
Maytha Elhadi ◽  
Mutaz Amin Mustafa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasmodium Falciparum ◽  
Clinical Study ◽  
Nested Pcr ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Central Sudan ◽  
Malaria Species ◽  
White Nile ◽  
Species Specific

Plasmodium falciparumis a predominant malaria species that infects humans in the African continent. A recent WHO report estimated 95% and 5% ofP. falciparumandP. vivaxmalaria cases, respectively, in Sudan. However many laboratory reports from different areas in Sudan indicated otherwise. In order to verify, we selected four hundred suspected malaria cases from Aljabalain area located in the White Nile state, central Sudan, and diagnosed them with quality insured microscopy and species-specific nested PCR. Our results indicated that the proportion ofP. vivaxinfections among suspected malaria cases was high. We found that on average 20% and 36.5% of malaria infections in both study areas were caused byP. vivaxusing both microscopy and PCR, respectively. This change in pattern is likely due to the recent demographic changes and high rate of immigration from neighbouring countries in the recent years. This is the first extensive clinical study of its kind that shows rising trend inP. vivaxmalaria cases in White Nile area, Sudan.

scholarly journals African Great Apes Are Naturally Infected with Roseoloviruses Closely Related to Human Herpesvirus 7

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (22) ◽  
pp. 13212-13220 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lavergne ◽  
D. Donato ◽  
A. Gessain ◽  
H. Niphuis ◽  
E. Nerrienet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Herpesvirus ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
African Great Apes

scholarly journals Fertility as a constraint on group size in African great Apes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R I M Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
African Great Apes ◽  
Cognitive Cost ◽  
Size And Structure ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

Abstract Gorillas and chimpanzees live in social groups of very different size and structure. Here I test the hypothesis that this difference might reflect the way fertility maps onto group demography as it does in other Catarrhines. For both genera, birth rates and the number of surviving offspring per female are quadratic (or ∩-shaped) functions of the number of adult females in the group, and this is independent of environmental effects. The rate at which fertility declines ultimately imposes a constraint on the size of social groups that can be maintained in both taxa. The differences in group size between the two genera seem to reflect a contrast in the way females buffer themselves against this cost. Gorillas do this by using males as bodyguards, whereas chimpanzees exploit fission–fusion sociality to do so. The latter allows chimpanzees to live in much larger groups without paying a fertility cost (albeit at a cognitive cost).

scholarly journals Pan African Sanctuary Alliance: securing a future for the African great apes

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Stokes ◽  
G. Tully ◽  
A. G. Rosati
Keyword(s):  
Great Apes ◽  
Pan African ◽  
African Great Apes

Discrepancies in the Occurrence of Balantidium coli Between Wild and Captive African Great Apes

2010 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 1139-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kateřina Pomajbíková ◽  
Klára J. Petrželková ◽  
Ilona Profousová ◽  
Jana Petrášová ◽  
David Modrý
Keyword(s):  
Great Apes ◽  
Balantidium Coli ◽  
African Great Apes
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