Probable transmission of coxsackie B3 virus from human to chimpanzee, Denmark

Abstract

In 2010, a chimpanzee died at Copenhagen Zoo following an outbreak of respiratory disease among chimpanzees in the zoo. Identification of coxsackie B3 virus, a common human pathogen, as the causative agent, and its severe manifestation, raise questions about pathogenicity and transmissibility among humans and other primates.

Figure 1

Postmortem tissue sections from chimpanzee with coxsackie virus B infection, Denmark. A) Myocardial section showing artifacts of freezing and a diffuse lymphocytic infiltration. Scale bar = 80 µm. B) Myocytic degeneration (arrows) is evident. Scale bar = 40 µm. C) CD3 marker reaction showing T lymphocytes. Scale bar = 40 µm.

Figure 2

Phylogenetic tree of coxsackie B viruses inferred by using neighbor-joining analysis. The tree was generated by using the Tamura-Nei distance model and 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Scale bar represents estimated phylogenetic divergence. Specific coxsackie B virus serotypes (CB1–6) and corresponding GenBank accession number are shown on the right. Poliovirus was included as an outgroup. Coxsackie virus B clade shown in boldface; the reported coxsackie B virus sequence is listed in red. CB, coxsackie B virus.