Estación Biológica de Usos Múltiples de Corrientes (EBCo), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales-CONICET, Argentina.
Am J Primatol. 2011 Jan;73(1):75-83. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20803.
Exponential expansion of human populations and human activities within primate habitats has resulted in high potential for pathogen exchange creating challenges for biodiversity conservation and global health. Under such conditions, resilient habitat generalists such as black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) may act as effective sentinels to overall ecosystem health and alert us to impending epidemics in the human population. To better understand this potential, we examined noninvasively collected fecal samples from black and gold howler monkeys from remote, rural, and village populations in Northern Argentina. We examined all samples (n=90) for the zoonotic protozoa Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia sp. via immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) detection. All samples were negative for Cryptosporidium sp. The prevalence of Giardia sp. was significantly higher at the rural site (67%) compared with the remote forest (57%) and village (40%) sites. A lack of Cryptosporidium sp. in all samples examined suggests that this pathogen is not a natural component of the howler parasite communities at these sites and that current land-use patterns and livestock contact are not exposing Argentine howler monkeys to this pathogen. High prevalence of Giardia sp. at all sites suggests that howler monkeys may serve as a viable reservoir for Giardia. Significantly higher prevalence of Giardia sp. at the rural site, where primate-livestock contact is highest, suggests the presence of multiple Giardia clades or increased exposure to Giardia through repeated zoonotic transmission among nonhuman primates, livestock, and/or people. These results highlight the need for future research into the epidemiology, cross-species transmission ecology, and clinical consequences of Giardia and other infectious agents not only in humans and livestock, but also in the wild animals that share their environments.
人类人口和人类活动在灵长类动物栖息地的指数级扩张，导致病原体交换的潜力很高，给生物多样性保护和全球健康带来了挑战。在这种情况下，像黑金吼猴（Alouatta caraya）这样具有弹性的栖息地通才，可能会成为整个生态系统健康的有效哨兵，并提醒我们人类群体即将爆发流行病。为了更好地理解这种潜力，我们对来自阿根廷北部偏远农村和村庄的黑金吼猴的非侵入性收集粪便样本进行了检查。我们通过免疫荧光抗体（IFA）检测，检查了所有样本（n=90）中是否存在人畜共患的原生动物隐孢子虫和贾第虫。所有样本均为隐孢子虫阴性。农村地区的贾第虫患病率（67%）明显高于偏远森林（57%）和村庄（40%）地区。所有检查样本中均未发现隐孢子虫，这表明该病原体不是这些地点吼猴寄生虫群落的天然组成部分，当前的土地利用模式和牲畜接触并没有使阿根廷吼猴接触到这种病原体。所有地点的贾第虫患病率均较高，表明吼猴可能是贾第虫的一个可行宿主。农村地区的贾第虫患病率最高（67%），表明存在多种贾第虫谱系，或者由于非人类灵长类动物、牲畜和/或人类之间反复发生的人畜共患传播，导致接触贾第虫的机会增加。这些结果强调了需要进一步研究贾第虫和其他传染病原体的流行病学、跨物种传播生态学以及临床后果，不仅在人类和牲畜中，而且在与它们共享环境的野生动物中也是如此。
