Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Musanze, Rwanda.
Centre for Research in Animal Behavior, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 7;11(1):19622. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98969-8.
Minimizing disease transmission between humans and wild apes and controlling outbreaks in ape populations is vital to both ape conservation and human health, but information on the transmission of real infections in wild populations is rare. We analyzed respiratory outbreaks in a subpopulation of wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) between 2004 and 2020. We investigated transmission within groups during 7 outbreaks using social networks based on contact and proximity, and transmission between groups during 15 outbreaks using inter-group encounters, transfers and home range overlap. Patterns of contact and proximity within groups were highly predictable based on gorillas' age and sex. Disease transmission within groups was rapid with a median estimated basic reproductive number (R0) of 4.18 (min = 1.74, max = 9.42), and transmission was not predicted by the social network. Between groups, encounters and transfers did not appear to have enabled disease transmission and the overlap of groups' ranges did not predict concurrent outbreaks. Our findings suggest that gorilla social structure, with many strong connections within groups and weak ties between groups, may enable rapid transmission within a group once an infection is present, but limit the transmission of infections between groups.
在人类和野生猿类之间最大限度地减少疾病传播，并控制猿类种群中的疫情爆发，对猿类保护和人类健康都至关重要，但关于野生种群中实际感染传播的信息却很少。我们分析了 2004 年至 2020 年间野生山地大猩猩（Gorilla beringei beringei）亚种群中的呼吸道疫情。我们利用基于接触和接近的社交网络，在 7 次疫情爆发期间调查了群体内部的传播情况，利用群体间的接触、转移和栖息地重叠，在 15 次疫情爆发期间调查了群体间的传播情况。群体内部的接触和接近模式高度可预测，基于大猩猩的年龄和性别。群体内的疾病传播迅速，中位估计基本繁殖数（R0）为 4.18（最小值=1.74，最大值=9.42），且传播不受社交网络预测。群体间的接触和转移似乎并没有导致疾病传播，而群体范围的重叠也没有预测到同时爆发的疫情。我们的研究结果表明，大猩猩的社会结构具有许多群体内部的紧密联系和群体间的弱联系，一旦感染存在，可能会使群体内部的传播迅速，但限制了群体间的感染传播。
