Prevalence of enzootic simian viruses among urban performance monkeys in Indonesia

Abstract

Animal reservoirs are the most important sources of emerging infectious diseases that threaten human populations. Global travel and tourism bring ever-increasing numbers of humans into contact with animals, increasing the likelihood of cross species transmission of infectious agents. Non-human primates come into contact with humans in a variety of contexts and may harbor infectious agents with zoonotic potential. We investigated the prevalence of infection with enzootic simian viruses among 20 urban performance monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) in Jakarta, Indonesia. This report documents for the first time evidence of infection with four simian viruses in urban performance monkeys. Simian foamy virus was detected by PCR in 52.9% of the macaques. Antibodies to simian retrovirus were detected in 10.5% of the macaques. Antibodies to Cercopithecine Herpesvirus 1, were detected in 5.3% of the macaques. Similarly, antibodies to simian T-cell lymphotropic virus were detected in 5.3% of the macaques. No evidence of infection with simian immunodeficiency virus was detected in these macaques. These results suggest that urban performance monkeys are a reservoir for enzootic simian viruses known to be capable of infecting humans. keywords simian retrovirus, simian T-cell lymphotropic virus, Cercopithecine Herpesvirus 1, simian foamy virus, macaque, primate zoonoses, Asia, performing monkeys