A review of Gabonese gorillas and their pathogens: Diversity, transfer and One Health approach to avoid future outbreaks?

Abstract

In Africa, great apes, among which gorillas, are the reservoir of several infectious agents, some of which have zoonotic potential. However, scientific reports summarizing data on the pathogens harbored by some primate species still need to be published for the scientific community, conservation, and public health actors. In the case of Gabon, despite its outstanding biodiversity, particularly in great apes, and the history of outbreaks involving wildlife, there is a lack of reports on pathogens found in some ape species living in the vicinity of the human being. Thus, it is becoming urgent for us to synthesize the available data on pathogens (parasites, bacteria, and viruses) identified in gorillas living in different ecosystems of Gabon to assess the risks for the human population. Therefore, this review article presents the diversity of pathogens identified in gorillas in Gabon, their impact on primates' health, the cases of transfer between gorillas and humans, and the interest in a One Health approach for prevention and a better understanding of the ecology of gorilla's diseases infection in Gabon.

Keywords: One Health; gorillas; pathogens diversity; reservoir; transfers.

Figure 1

List of different pathogens identified in gabonses gorillas (including parasites, viruses, and bacteria). The different colors indicate the group of pathogens (green for parasites; red: for the virus and blue for the bacteria).

Figure 2

Variation of Plasmodium spp prevalences in Gabon. This picture shows the variations of prevalence within the various populations of gorillas studied (Boundenga et al., 2015).

Figure 3

Some examples of the transfer of pathogens between the gorillas and humans and vice versa. In some of the cases illustrated in this picture, gorillas have been clearly identified as the source of the pathogens found in humans in other cases the parasites have been found in both gorillas and humans and the direction of transfer has not yet been identified.

Figure 4

Illustration of the One Health approach. This image illustrates how the increase in human-animal contact, particularly with gorillas in the interface, argues for an increase in the emergence of zoonotic diseases. It shows how in a country such as Gabon where human-gorilla contact is a result of human activities, the success of the best public health prevention strategy would require the collaboration/cooperation of human, animal, and environmental health partners.