1
|
Lonsdorf EV, Travis DA, Raphael J, Kamenya S, Lipende I, Mwacha D, Collins DA, Wilson M, Mjungu D, Murray C, Bakuza J, Wolf TM, Parsons MB, Deere JR, Lantz E, Kinsel MJ, Santymire R, Pintea L, Terio KA, Hahn BH, Pusey AE, Goodall J, Gillespie TR. The Gombe Ecosystem Health Project: 16 years of program evolution and lessons learned. Am J Primatol 2021; 84:e23300. [PMID: 34223656 PMCID: PMC8727649 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Infectious disease outbreaks pose a significant threat to the conservation of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and all threatened nonhuman primates. Characterizing and mitigating these threats to support the sustainability and welfare of wild populations is of the highest priority. In an attempt to understand and mitigate the risk of disease for the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, Tanzania, we initiated a long-term health-monitoring program in 2004. While the initial focus was to expand the ongoing behavioral research on chimpanzees to include standardized data on clinical signs of health, it soon became evident that the scope of the project would ideally include diagnostic surveillance of pathogens for all primates (including people) and domestic animals, both within and surrounding the National Park. Integration of these data, along with in-depth post-mortem examinations, have allowed us to establish baseline health indicators to inform outbreak response. Here, we describe the development and expansion of the Gombe Ecosystem Health project, review major findings from the research and summarize the challenges and lessons learned over the past 16 years. We also highlight future directions and present the opportunities and challenges that remain when implementing studies of ecosystem health in a complex, multispecies environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth V Lonsdorf
- Department of Psychology and Biological Foundations of Behavior Program, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dominic A Travis
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jane Raphael
- Gombe National Park, Tanzania Nationals Park, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Shadrack Kamenya
- Gombe Stream Research Center, The Jane Goodall Institute, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Iddi Lipende
- Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Arusha, Tanzania
| | - Dismas Mwacha
- Gombe Stream Research Center, The Jane Goodall Institute, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - D Anthony Collins
- Gombe Stream Research Center, The Jane Goodall Institute, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Michael Wilson
- Departments of Anthropology and Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Deus Mjungu
- Gombe Stream Research Center, The Jane Goodall Institute, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Carson Murray
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Jared Bakuza
- College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Tiffany M Wolf
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Michele B Parsons
- Division of Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Jessica R Deere
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Emma Lantz
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Rancho Cordova, California, USA
| | - Michael J Kinsel
- Zoological Pathology Program, University of Illinois, Brookfield, Illinois, USA
| | - Rachel Santymire
- Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Karen A Terio
- Zoological Pathology Program, University of Illinois, Brookfield, Illinois, USA
| | - Beatrice H Hahn
- Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Anne E Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jane Goodall
- The Jane Goodall Institute, Vienna, Virginia, USA
| | - Thomas R Gillespie
- Departments of Environmental Sciences and Environmental Health and Program in Population Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wolf TM, Singer RS, Lonsdorf EV, Maclehose R, Gillespie TR, Lipende I, Raphael J, Terio K, Murray C, Pusey A, Hahn BH, Kamenya S, Mjungu D, Travis DA. Syndromic Surveillance of Respiratory Disease in Free-Living Chimpanzees. ECOHEALTH 2019; 16:275-286. [PMID: 30838479 PMCID: PMC6684380 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-019-01400-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Disease surveillance in wildlife is rapidly expanding in scope and methodology, emphasizing the need for formal evaluations of system performance. We examined a syndromic surveillance system for respiratory disease detection in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, from 2004 to 2012, with respect to data quality, disease trends, and respiratory disease detection. Data quality was assessed by examining community coverage, completeness, and consistency. The data were examined for baseline trends; signs of respiratory disease occurred at a mean frequency of less than 1 case per week, with most weeks containing zero observations of abnormalities. Seasonal and secular (i.e., over a period of years) trends in respiratory disease frequency were not identified. These baselines were used to develop algorithms for outbreak detection using both weekly counts and weekly prevalence thresholds and then compared retrospectively on the detection of 13 respiratory disease clusters from 2005 to 2012. Prospective application of outbreak detection algorithms to real-time syndromic data would be useful in triggering a rapid outbreak response, such as targeted diagnostic sampling, enhanced surveillance, or mitigation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany M Wolf
- Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 495 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
| | - Randall S Singer
- Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, 1971 Commonwealth Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | | | - Richard Maclehose
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 S 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
| | - Thomas R Gillespie
- Emory University and Rollins School of Public Health, 400 Dowman Drive, Math and Science Center, Suite E510, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Iddi Lipende
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Jane Raphael
- Gombe National Park, Tanzania National Parks Authority, S L P 185, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Karen Terio
- Zoological Pathology Program, University of Illinois, 3300 Golf Rd, Brookfield, IL, 60513, USA
| | - Carson Murray
- George Washington University, 800 22nd St. NW, Suite 6000, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Anne Pusey
- Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Beatrice H Hahn
- Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 409 Johnson Pavilion, 3610 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Shadrack Kamenya
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Deus Mjungu
- Gombe Stream Research Center, Jane Goodall Institute, PO Box 1182, Kigoma, Tanzania
| | - Dominic A Travis
- Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 495 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine, 1988 Fitch Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Dunay E, Apakupakul K, Leard S, Palmer JL, Deem SL. Pathogen Transmission from Humans to Great Apes is a Growing Threat to Primate Conservation. ECOHEALTH 2018; 15:148-162. [PMID: 29362964 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-017-1306-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 11/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
All six great ape species are listed as endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN and experiencing decreasing population trends. One of the threats to these non-human primates is the transmission of pathogens from humans. We conducted a literature review on occurrences of pathogen transmission from humans to great apes to highlight this often underappreciated issue. In total, we found 33 individual occurrences of probable or confirmed pathogen transmission from humans to great apes: 23 involved both pathogen and disease transmission, 7 pathogen transmission only, 2 positive antibody titers to zoonotic pathogens, and 1 pathogen transmission with probable disease. Great ape populations were categorized into captive, semi-free-living, and free-living conditions. The majority of occurrences involved chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) (n = 23) or mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) (n = 8). These findings have implications for conservation efforts and management of endangered great ape populations. Future efforts should focus on monitoring and addressing zoonotic pathogen and disease transmission between humans, great ape species, and other taxa to ensure the health of humans, wild and domestic animals, and the ecosystems we share.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emily Dunay
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Kathleen Apakupakul
- Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Stephen Leard
- IT Department, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Jamie L Palmer
- Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Sharon L Deem
- Institute for Conservation Medicine, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
| |
Collapse
|