A gorilla reservoir for human T-lymphotropic virus type 4.
Matthew LeBreton, William M Switzer, Cyrille F Djoko, Amethyst Gillis, Hongwei Jia, Michele M Sturgeon, Anupama Shankar, Haoqiang Zheng, Gerard Nkeunen, Ubald Tamoufe, Ahmadou Nana, Joseph Le Doux Diffo, Babila Tafon, John Kiyang, Bradley S Schneider, Donald S Burke, Nathan D Wolfe
Author Information
Matthew LeBreton: Mosaic, (Environment, Health, Data, Technology) , Yaoundé, Cameroon ; Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon ; Metabiota , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
William M Switzer: Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Cyrille F Djoko: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon.
Amethyst Gillis: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon ; Metabiota , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
Hongwei Jia: Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Michele M Sturgeon: Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Anupama Shankar: Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Haoqiang Zheng: Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Gerard Nkeunen: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon.
Ubald Tamoufe: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon ; Metabiota , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
Ahmadou Nana: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon.
Joseph Le Doux Diffo: Global Viral Cameroon , BP 7039 Yaounde, Cameroon.
Babila Tafon: Ape Action Africa, Cameroon , BP 20072 Yaounde, Cameroon.
John Kiyang: Limbe Wildlife Centre , Limbe, Cameroon.
Bradley S Schneider: Metabiota , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
Donald S Burke: Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Nathan D Wolfe: Metabiota , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA ; Program in Human Biology, Stanford University , Stanford, CA 94305, USA ; Global Viral , San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
Of the seven known species of human retroviruses only one, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 4 (HTLV-4), lacks a known animal reservoir. We report the largest screening for simian T-cell lymphotropic virus (STLV-4) to date in a wide range of captive and wild non-human primate (NHP) species from Cameroon. Among the 681 wild and 426 captive NHPs examined, we detected STLV-4 infection only among gorillas by using HTLV-4-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The large number of samples analyzed, the diversity of NHP species examined, the geographic distribution of infected animals relative to the known HTLV-4 case, as well as detailed phylogenetic analyses on partial and full genomes, indicate that STLV-4 is endemic to gorillas, and that rather than being an ancient virus among humans, HTLV-4 emerged from a gorilla reservoir, likely through the hunting and butchering of wild gorillas. Our findings shed further light on the importance of gorillas as keystone reservoirs for the evolution and emergence of human infectious diseases and provide a clear course for preventing HTLV-4 emergence through management of human contact with wild gorillas, the development of improved assays for HTLV-4/STLV-4 detection and the ongoing monitoring of STLV-4 among gorillas and for HTLV-4 zoonosis among individuals exposed to gorilla populations.
