SYNANTHROPY AND HEALTH IN ASIA: DISEASE IMPLICATIONS OF A SHARED ENVIRONMENT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Core of the Primate Center's International Division has been characterizing the interspecies transmission of enteroviruses between humans and nonhuman primates in Bangladesh since 2006. Our collaborating CDC researchers previously isolated several enterovirus strains, EV76, EV89, EV90, and EV91, from humans in Bangladesh that closely resemble primate enteroviruses characterized in the 1950-70's. To date, we have analyzed more than 750 samples from 13 synanthropic (they share an ecological niche with humans) NHP taxa using real-time PCR and typed by VP1 sequencing. Overall enteroviral prevalence in this s sample was 8.6%, including 22 distinct enterovirus strains, several that have been identified as pathogenic in humans. Distribution of enteroviruses is characterized almost entirely by ecological context and enteroviruses present within an ecological context are not host specific. This has important implications for the evolution and emergence of pathogens. The EID core has also been investigating nutritional parameters and ecotoxicology in free ranging populations of NHPs in Asia. Ongoing research is measuring levels of micronutrients, such as Zinc and Vitamin A (this research tests the hypotheses that nutritional status impacts immune function in populations of free ranging macaques), as well as toxicants like lead and mercury. Recently, we published evidence that free-ranging juvenile macaques may be appropriate sentinels for human exposure to lead.