Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 10, 2025

Author Spotlight: AI-Driven Trypanosome Species Detection from Microscopic Images
Published on: October 27, 2023
Occurrence of Ten Protozoan Enteric Pathogens in Three Non-Human Primate Populations
Estelle Menu1,2, Bernard Davoust2,3, Oleg Mediannikov2,3
1Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, Aix Marseille University, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, 13005 Marseille, France.
Abstract:
Non-human primate populations act as potential reservoirs for human pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and parasites, which can lead to zoonotic infections. Furthermore, intestinal microorganisms may be pathogenic organisms to both non-human primates and humans. It is, therefore, essential to study the prevalence of these infectious agents in captive and wild non-human primates. This study aimed at showing the prevalence of the most frequently encountered human enteric protozoa in non-human primate populations based on qPCR detection. The three populations studied were common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Senegal and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) in the Republic of the Congo and in the Beauval Zoo (France). Blastocystis spp. were mainly found, with an occurrence close to 100%, followed by Balantidiumcoli (23.7%), Giardiaintestinalis (7.9%), Encephalitozoonintestinalis (1.3%) and Dientamoebafragilis (0.2%). None of the following protozoa were detected: Entamoebahistolytica, Enterocytozoonbieneusi, Cryptosporidiumparvum, C. hominis, Cyclosporacayetanensis or Cystoisosporabelli. As chimpanzees and gorillas are genetically close to humans, it is important to monitor them frequently against different pathogens to protect these endangered species and to assess potential zoonotic transmissions to humans.
Related Concept Videos
Diversity of Protists II
Diversity of Protists I
Overview of Protists
Diversity of Protists III
Fungal Phylum Microsporidia
Diversity of Protists IV

