New Streptococcus pneumoniae clones in deceased wild chimpanzees

J Bacteriol. 2007 Aug;189(16):6085-8. doi: 10.1128/JB.00468-07. Epub 2007 Jun 22.

Abstract

In wild chimpanzees in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, sudden deaths which were preceded by respiratory problems had been observed since 1999. Two new clones of Streptococcus pneumoniae were identified in deceased apes on the basis of multilocus sequence typing analysis and ply, lytA, and pbp2x sequences. The findings suggest that virulent S. pneumoniae occurs in populations of wild chimpanzees with the potential to cause infections similar to those observed in humans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Wild / microbiology*
  • Ape Diseases
  • Autopsy / veterinary*
  • Bacterial Typing Techniques
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Phylogeny
  • Pneumococcal Infections / epidemiology
  • Pneumococcal Infections / veterinary*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / genetics*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / isolation & purification*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / pathogenicity