Role of monkeys in the sylvatic cycle of chikungunya virus in Senegal

Abstract

Arboviruses spillover into humans either as a one-step jump from a reservoir host species into humans or as a two-step jump from the reservoir to an amplification host species and thence to humans. Little is known about arbovirus transmission dynamics in reservoir and amplification hosts. Here we elucidate the role of monkeys in the sylvatic, enzootic cycle of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in the region around Kédougou, Senegal. Over 3 years, 737 monkeys were captured, aged using anthropometry and dentition, and tested for exposure to CHIKV by detection of neutralizing antibodies. Infant monkeys were positive for CHIKV even when the virus was not detected in a concurrent survey of mosquitoes and when population immunity was too high for monkeys alone to support continuous transmission. We conclude that monkeys in this region serve as amplification hosts of CHIKV. Additional efforts are needed to identify other hosts capable of supporting continuous circulation.

The interplay between host community structure and pathogen life‐history constraints in driving the evolution of host‐range shifts

“…A comparative approach examining host shifts among communities of potentially competing host species that comprise the sylvatic cycle of several emerging pathogens (e.g. primate communities hosting Chikungunya – Althouse et al., ) may be especially attractive, and our results could potentially help in prioritizing pathogen lineages and sylvatic host communities for monitoring. A focus on the role of competition in host‐range shifts can also be useful in agricultural contexts, where agricultural plant hosts share considerable overlap in resource use as well as pathogens (e.g.…”

A scoping review of Chikungunya virus infection: epidemiology, clinical characteristics, viral co-circulation complications, and control

“…Shortly after identification in East Africa (1952), CHIKV was described in both central and southern regions of Africa (Uganda and sub-green monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) (Linnaeus, 1766), patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) (Schreber, 1775), Guinea baboons (Papio papio) (Desmarest, 1820), guenons (Cercopithecus aethiops) (Linnaeus, 1758), bushbabies (Galago senegalensis) (Geoffroy, 1796), mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) (Linnaeus, 1758), red-tail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti) (Matschie, 1892) and Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) (Kerr, 1792)] (McIntosh, 1970;McCrae et al, 1971;Diallo et al, 1999;Chevillon et al, 2008;Pruetz et al, 2010Caglioti et al, 2013Kading et al, 2013;Althouse et al, 2018). A vector role has also been suggested for Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes, which have been found infected in Senegal from 1972 to 1996 (Diallo et al, 1999).…”

Cellular and Molecular Immune Response to Chikungunya Virus Infection

“…CHIKV is a zoonotic virus that uses several non-human primates (NHPs) and possibly other vertebrates as amplification hosts (Tsetsarkin et al, 2016 ), which could also serve as virus reservoirs (Althouse et al, 2018 ) during inter-epidemic periods.…”