Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
the “oral/fecal” route - facilitated by prolonged close physical contact. Most
pet owners report some kind of injury inflicted by their pet, a bite or scratch,
that breaks the skin, allowing pathogens to enter the owner's blood directly
(“parenterally”). In addition, the owner and pet may share exposure to vector-
borne pathogens, such as malaria, originating in humans, non-human primates
or other animals reservoirs. Whether or not transmission occurs depends to a
large degree on the prevalence of infectious agents in the community. This in
turn is influenced by factors such as demography (e.g., children are commonly
affected by a range of respiratory and gastrointestinal pathogens), infrastruc-
ture (e.g., sewage disposal has an important bearing on prevalence of diarrheal
illness) and immune status (e.g., immunization and nutritional status).
The above example illustrates the complexities of cross-species transmis-
sion of disease in the “real world.” Over the past decades, scientific approaches
to studying human infectious diseases have been informed, to a great extent, by
laboratory research on non-human primates, in particular rhesus (
M. mulatta
)
and long-tailed (
M. fascicularis
) macaques. The genetic, physiological and
behavioral similarities of humans and primates contribute to a shared sus-
ceptibility to infectious agents. In the laboratory, over 200 infectious agents,
including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites, have been shown capable of
infecting both humans and primates (Fiennes,
1967
). However, a discussion of
this entire range of infectious agents is beyond the scope of this chapter, which
will focus on a small subset of infectious agents, of particular interest from the
perspective of primate conservation and public health.
It is worth noting that, while laboratory-based research on cross-species
transmission has gained momentum over the past decades, still relatively little
is known about how infectious agents are transmitted to and from populations
of free-ranging primates. With respect to our pet monkey example, laboratory
data is helpful is defining the pathophysiology of a given infection, but is ill-
suited to shedding light on the how cross-species transmission occurs, which
populations are affected, and what management strategies are likely to be suc-
cessful in controlling disease spread. There remains a great need for further
field research to link laboratory data to real world infectious challenges that
affect primate and human populations.
Transmission of infectious agents from long-tailed
macaques to humans
Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1
Macaques (
Macaca sp
.) are the only known natural carriers of
Cercopithecine
herpesvirus
1 (commonly known as herpes B,
Herpesvirus simiae
, B virus).
