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KOMPAS.com- Deep in the jungle of West Africa, scientists are documenting for the first time chimps wild suffering leprosy.
Researchers are fairly certain that chimpanzees did not catch it from humans, which suggests that the disease arose from an unknown source.
As quoted from IFL Science, Monday (16/11/2020) the leprosy outbreak has hit at least two wild populations of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Guinea-Bissau’s Cantanhez National Park and Taï National Park in Ivory Coast.
In reports published in pre-printed papers at bioRxiv, the researchers explained that chimps appear to be suffering from the same diseases as humans.
Using camera traps around the protected forest, the team finally managed to reveal.
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The team captured images of at least four chimps with lesions and defects on their faces, ears, hands and feet.
To determine what happened to the chimpanzees, the team collected fecal samples and detected the presence of leprosy-causing bacteria. Mycobacterium leprae.
Genetic analysis of bacteria obtained from fecal samples raises several interesting points.
First, the two different sites had two different strains, which indicates that the outbreak occurred separately.
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Second, the genotype of the bacterial strain responsible for both outbreaks is extremely rare in humans, suggesting that it is likely that the outbreak did not come from human contact.
Previously, researchers had estimated that leprosy only infected humans. Although leprosy has been seen in chimpanzees in captivity this is the first time leprosy has been documented in a wild population.
“Given the low number of cases, we cannot say that this disease is a threat from a conservation point of view. But we have to monitor the situation,” said Dr. Fabian Leendertz, researcher at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin.
Although he did not mention that leprosy is a conservation problem, in fact chimpanzees have many other problems that threaten their existence such as habitat, hunting and other diseases.
Furthermore, leprosy generally spreads through close prolonged contact with an infected person. Chimpanzees wild people rarely come into contact with humans other than the researchers who study them.
In addition, none of the researchers involved with chimpanzees had ever been diagnosed with leprosy.
They also follow strict hygiene measures, such as keeping a 7 meter distance and wearing face masks, to reduce the risk of human-to-primate transmission of disease.
This leaves the question, how did chimps get infected with the disease?
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Researchers aren’t sure, but they suspect it came from an unknown animal or environmental source. Unfortunately, they still cannot conclude where the source came from.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know, but we are investigating this right now. Taking environmental samples, catching rodents, and so on, “explained Dr Leendertz.
Finding the source of leprosy in chimpanzees can reveal some important insights about the disease.
Such as challenging the old assumption that humans are the main reservoir M. leprae. This also shows that unknown factors play an important role in the life of people with leprosy.
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