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. 2012;7(1):e29505.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029505. Epub 2012 Jan 10.

Zoonotic viruses associated with illegally imported wildlife products

Kristine M Smith  1 , Simon J Anthony, William M Switzer, Jonathan H Epstein, Tracie Seimon, Hongwei Jia, Maria D Sanchez, Thanh Thao Huynh, G Gale Galland, Sheryl E Shapiro, Jonathan M Sleeman, Denise McAloose, Margot Stuchin, George Amato, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, W Ian Lipkin, William B Karesh, Peter Daszak, Nina Marano
Affiliations

Zoonotic viruses associated with illegally imported wildlife products

Kristine M Smith et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

The global trade in wildlife has historically contributed to the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. The United States is the world's largest importer of wildlife and wildlife products, yet minimal pathogen surveillance has precluded assessment of the health risks posed by this practice. This report details the findings of a pilot project to establish surveillance methodology for zoonotic agents in confiscated wildlife products. Initial findings from samples collected at several international airports identified parts originating from nonhuman primate (NHP) and rodent species, including baboon, chimpanzee, mangabey, guenon, green monkey, cane rat and rat. Pathogen screening identified retroviruses (simian foamy virus) and/or herpesviruses (cytomegalovirus and lymphocryptovirus) in the NHP samples. These results are the first demonstration that illegal bushmeat importation into the United States could act as a conduit for pathogen spread, and suggest that implementation of disease surveillance of the wildlife trade will help facilitate prevention of disease emergence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Nonhuman primate bushmeat specimens confiscated at US airports.
Examples of smuggled simian bushmeat (a) skull, (b) hand, (c) skull and torso, and (d) arm. Ruler units are centimeters.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Inferred phylogenetic relationships of SFV pol sequences detected in bushmeat samples.
Neighbor-joining (NJ) and maximum-likelihood (ML) analysis gave identical branching orders. New SFV sequences identified in this study are boxed. Clades of sequences from Mandrillus, Cercopithicus, Chlorocebus, Macaca, Pongo, Gorilla, and Pan paniscus are collapsed for presentation. Branch lengths are drawn to scale and only bootstrap values (NJ/ML) greater than 70% are shown.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Inferred phylogenetic relationships of SFV pol (∼153 bp) sequences detected in USFWS bushmeat samples.
Neighbor-joining (NJ) and maximum-likelihood (ML) analysis gave identical branching orders. New SFV sequences identified in this study are underlined.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Inferred phylogenetic relationships of herpesviruses detected in siman bushmeat samples.
Neighbor-joining (NJ) and maximum-likelihood (ML) analysis gave identical branching orders. Sequences identified in bushmeat products are underlined and cluster with sub-families betaherpesvirus (samples: CII-028, CII-163, BM-002), and gammaherpesvirus (samples: CII-163, CII-013, CII-051, CII-044, CII-144, CII-040, BM-008).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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