AJP Featured Articles
Destabilization of the Gut Microbiome Marks the End-Stage of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Wild Chimpanzees.
Authors: Hannah J. Barbian, Yingying Li, Miguel Ramirez, Zachary Klase, Iddi Lipende, Deus Mjungu, Andrew H. Moeller, Michael L. Wilson, Anne E. Pusey, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Frederic D. Bushman and Beatrice
The intestinal microbiome is an important indicator of mammalian health. Many chronic diseases, including HIV-1 infection of humans, are associated with changes in gut microbial communities, which are believed to contribute to disease progression. Simian immunodeficiency virus of chimpanzees (SIVcpz), the precursor of the human AIDS virus, can cause immunodeficiency and premature death in wild-living chimpanzees. To determine whether SIVcpz infection is associated with an imbalance of gut microbiota, we deep sequenced fecal samples from infected and uninfected chimpanzees living in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Analyzing both bacterial and viral constituents, we failed to find microbial markers that predicted SIVcpz infection or disease progression. However, SIVcpz infected chimpanzees sampled within five months before their AIDS-related death experienced a significant destabilization of their gut bacterial communities. These findings thus settle the long-standing debate of whether pathogenic HIV/SIV infection can cause alterations of the gut microbiome. SIVcpz infected chimpanzees maintain a stable gut microbiome throughout much of their natural disease course, but die relatively rapidly after the compositional changes in their gut microbiome mark the loss of effective immune control. In contrast, HIV-1 infected humans seem to tolerate a more prolonged course of declining immune functions, at least in part because of effective medical interventions, which independently contribute to alterations of gut bacterial communities. Thus, both HIV-1 and SIVcpz infection seem capable of causing a disruption of gut microbial homeostasis, but the timing and associated health consequences differ between humans and apes.
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Diagnostic overview of the illegal trade in primates and law enforcement in Peru.
Authors: Noga Shanee, A. Patricia Mendoza, and Sam Shanee
Peru is one of the richest countries in primate species diversity worldwide. However, very high levels of hunting and illegal trade threaten the future of many of its primates. We investigated the illegal trade in primate pets and bushmeat, estimating that hundreds of thousands of individuals are caught or killed per year. Larger species, such as spider and woolly monkeys, face the highest threat. We found that government authorities lack sufficient staff, capacity, resources, infrastructure and protocols to efficiently combat illegal trade in primates. Also, the complicated legal framework, high levels of corruption and lack of cooperation and antagonism with the public further limit these efforts. Wildlife authorities in Peru are able to confiscate only a fraction of primates traded and mostly intervene in cases of private pet owners rather than traffickers, allowing big wildlife markets to operate openly, some of these responsible for the death of hundreds of primates a week. In the 1960s and 1970s Peru was the main primate exporter in South America, a ban on primate trade reduced drastically the legal primate trade. However, our current estimates show that numbers of illegally traded monkeys sold clandestinely are comparable to those before the ban. We call upon decision makers and international funders to channel their efforts towards ‘on the ground’ actions such as increasing authorities’ ability to act, giving them ‘in action’ training in law enforcement and establishing strict control measures against corruption.
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