Molecular Detection of Zoonotic Helminths Infection Non-Human Primates in Kenyan Urban Centres

Abstract

Naturalinfectionswithsoiltransmittedhelminthicnematodesoccurinnon-humanpri mates(NHPs)andhavethepotentialtocrossprimate speciesboundariesandcausediseasesofsignificantpublichealthconcern.Consequently,theidentificationandmolecularcharacterisa-tionofwormsinfectingNHPslivinginproximitytohumansiskeytosurveillanceandcontrolofzoonoticnematodesoriginatingfromwildlife.DespitethepresenceofNHPsinmosturbancentresinKenya,thereislittleinformationongeneticcharacterisationofcirculatingsoiltrans-mittedparasiticnematodesandtheroleofNHPsasréservoirsinurbansettings.Therefore,acrosssectionalsurveywasundertaken,andpolymerasechainreactioncoupledwithhigh-res-olutionmelting(PCR-HRM)analysisandmicroscopyappliedfordetectionofparasiticnema-todesinfectingfree-rangingcommonNHPsfoundwithinselectedurbancentresinKenyanamelyMombasa,Kisumu,KakamegaandMurang’a.Eighty-sixfaecalsamplesfromChlorocebusaethiops(Africangreenmonkey,AGM,n=41),Papioanubis(Olivebaboon,n=30),Cercopithecusmitis(bluemonkey,n=5)andCercopithecusascanius(red-tailedmon-key,n=10)werecollectedbyrectalswabbing.CombinationofparasitologicalidentificationandPCR-HRMdetectionofhelminthicnematoderevealedarichdiversityofhelminthsinclud-ingOesophagostomumstephanostomumandOesophagostomumbifurcum.PCR-HRManaly-sisofITS 2rDNAgenegeneratedtwodistinctprofilescorrespondingtoO.stephanostomumandO.bifurcum,andtheresultswasfurtherconfirmedbysequencing.TwoAGMswerein-fectedwithO.stephanostomumandatotalof11NHPswereco-infectedwithO.stephanostomumandO.bifurcum.Phylogenyanalysisoftheparasites’sequencesshowedO.stephanostomumandO.bifurcumclusteredwithreferencehumanisolatessuggestingclosegeneticsimilarities.Overall,thisstudydemonstratedthesuitabilityofPCR-HRMasanon-subjectivemethodforrapiddetectionanddifferentiationofnodularwormsbygenerationofdistinctmeltcurvesforeachwormspecies.Toourknowledge,wereport,forthefirsttime,theco-infectionofnodularwormsinNHPs,whichfurtherinformsontheepidemiologyofthesezoonoticnematodesinKenyaurbancentres.Finally,resultsconfirmingthatdifferentspeciesofNHPsharbourpotentiallyzoonoticnematodeswithinurbanenvironswillinformonbroaderhelminthcontrolstrategiesinendemictropicalcountrieslikeKenya.