Antimicrobial Resistance Creates Threat to Chimpanzee Health and Conservation in the Wild

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Michele B. Parsons, Emory University; Dominic A. Travis, University of Minnesota; Elizabeth Lonsdorf, Emory University; Iddi Lipende, Jane Goodall Institute; Deema Elchoufi, Emory University; Baraka Gilagiza, Jane Goodall Institute; Anthony Collins, Jane Goodall Institute; Shadrack Kamenya, Jane Goodall Institute; Robert V. Tauxe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Thomas Gillespie, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-04-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10040477
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Pathogens
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 4
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding for this study comes from the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF D09ZO-041 and MAF D09ZO-634), the Emory University Global Health Institute, the Arcus Foundation, the Leo S. Guthman Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (R01 AI58715)
• Keywords: Gombe National Park; Escherichia coli; Transmission; Sulfonamide; Bacteria; one health; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; sulfonamides; Developing countries; Integrons; AMR; Tetracycline antibiotics; tetracycline; zoonoses; Humans; Prevalence; Tanzania; Microbiology; primate; Gombe; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences; Health Sciences, Public Health; Biology, Microbiology

Abstract

Infectious disease is recognized as the greatest threat to the endangered chimpanzees made famous by the groundbreaking work of Dr. Jane Goodall at Gombe National Park (GNP), Tanzania. The permeable boundary of this small protected area allows for regular wildlife–human and wildlife–domestic animal overlap, which may facilitate cross-species transmission of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Few studies have examined the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in wild ape populations. We used molecular techniques to investigate the presence of genes conferring resistance to sulfonamides (often used to treat diarrheal illness in human settings in this region) and tetracycline (used in the past—though much less so now) in fecal specimens from humans, domestic animals, chimpanzees, and baboons in and around GNP. We also tested stream water used by these groups. Sulfonamide resistance was common in humans (74%), non-human primates (43%), and domestic animals (17%). Tetracycline resistance was less common in all groups: humans (14%), non-human primates (3%), and domestic animals (6%). Sul resistance genes were detected from 4/22 (18%) of streams sampled. Differences in sul gene frequencies did not vary by location in humans nor in chimpanzees.