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Origin of HTLV-1 in Hunters of Nonhuman Primates in Central Africa

2014; Oxford University Press; Volume: 211; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/infdis/jiu464

1537-6613

Mirdad Kazanji, Augustin Mouinga‐Ondémé, Sonia Lekana-Douki-Etenna, Mélanie Caron, Maria Makuwa, Renaud Mahieux, Antoine Gessain,

Vector-Borne Animal Diseases

Of 78 Gabonese individuals who had received bites from nonhuman primates (NHPs) while hunting, 7 were infected with human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1). Five had been bitten by gorillas and were infected with subtype B strains; however, a 12-year-old girl who was severely bitten by a Cercopithecus nictitans was infected with a subtype D strain that was closely related to the simian T lymphotropic virus (STLV-1) that infects this monkey species. Her mother was infected with a subtype B strain. These data confirm that hunters in Africa can be infected by HTLV-1 that is closely related to the strains circulating among local NHP game. Our findings strongly suggest that a severe bite represent a risk factor for STLV-1 acquisition.