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[Leprosy in a chimpanzee].
Norihisa Ishii1, Toshifumi Udono, Michiko Fujisawa
1Leprosy Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan. norishii@nih.go.jp
A rare case of leprosy in a chimpanzee provides definitive proof of Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) infection developing after latency. This finding suggests leprosy may be endemic in wild West African chimpanzees, posing a potential zoonotic risk.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Pathology
- Infectious Diseases
- Primatology
Background:
- Leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), has a suspected long latency period.
- Definitive proof of M. leprae infection developing after infancy has been lacking.
- The potential for zoonotic transmission of leprosy remains a public health concern.
Observation:
- A 31-year-old chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) from Sierra Leone exhibited classic signs of leprosy.
- The chimpanzee was imported to Japan at approximately 2 years of age.
- Pathological, serological, and molecular analyses confirmed lepromatous leprosy.
Findings:
- Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis confirmed the West African origin of the M. leprae strain.
- The case provides the first definitive evidence of leprosy developing after a prolonged incubation period in a non-human primate.
- The findings support the hypothesis of M. leprae being endemic in wild chimpanzee populations.
Implications:
- This discovery suggests a potential reservoir for M. leprae in West African chimpanzees.
- The findings highlight a possible zoonotic risk of leprosy transmission from chimpanzees to humans.
- Further research is warranted to investigate the prevalence and epidemiology of leprosy in wild primate populations.
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