Seroepidemiology of dengue and other arboviruses in a natural population of toque macaques (Macaca sinica) at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.

A seroepidemiological study of arboviruses infecting 115 wild toque macaques (Macaca sinica) at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka showed a high prevalence of antibodies to dengue and Lumbo viruses. There was low seroprevalence of Chandipura (2/115) and Batai (1/115) virus antibodies, but no seropositivity to Chikungunya or Sindbis. There was no serological evidence of infection by Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus in spite of large human epidemics in the study area, indicating that toque macaques are unlikely to be an epidemiologically relevant host in the maintenance cycle of JE virus.