Patterns Of Gastrointestinal Bacterial Exchange Between Chimpanzees And Humans Involved In Research And Tourism In Western Uganda
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Date
2007
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Biological Conservation
Abstract
Ecological overlap may increase the risks of microbial exchange between humans and wild non-human primates. Escherichia coli bacteria were collected from chimpanzees and humans in Kibale National Park, western Uganda, in May and June 2004, in order to examine whether interaction between humans and apes in the wild might affect gastrointestinal bacterial communities in the two species. Chimpanzees harbored bacteria genetically more similar to those of humans employed in chimpanzee-directed research and tourism than to those of humans from a local village. Most humans (81.6%) and 4.4% of chimpanzees harbored at least one isolate resistant to locally available antibiotics. In isolates from both humans and chimpanzees, resistance was higher to five of these antibiotics than to Ceftiofur, an antibiotic not available in the region. These data indicate that humans and apes interacting in the wild can share genetically and phenotypically similar gastrointestinal bacteria, presumably originating from common environmental sources. Strategies to limit transmission of pathogens between humans and primates, whether that transmission is direct or indirect, would benefit both human health and primate conservation.
Description
Keywords
Chimpanzee; Escherichia coli; Pan troglodytes; Transmission; Tourism; Uganda; Zoonoses; Molecular epidemiology
Citation
Goldberg, T. L., Gillespie, T. R., Rwego, I. B., Wheeler, E., Estoff, E. L., & Chapman, C. A. (2007). Patterns of gastrointestinal bacterial exchange between chimpanzees and humans involved in research and tourism in western Uganda. Biological Conservation, 135(4), 511-517.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.10.048