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Cardiovascular disease is associated with significant mortality in zoo-housed great apes and yet little is know about its epidemiology and aetiopathogenesis, and therefore its diagnosis, treatment and prevention. In this retrospective study, the frequency and patterns of cardiovascular disease associated mortality in zoo-housed great apes is explored. Data relating to 71 great apes [Bonobos Pan paniscus (n = 13), Chimpanzees Pan troglodytes (n = 37), Western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla (n = 15), and Bornean orangutans Pongo pygmaeus and Sumatran orangutans Pongo abelii (n = 6)], which died between 2004 and 2014, were studied and key information relating to their signalment (taxa, age, sex), and manner and cause of death analysed. Male sex and increasing age were found to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease associated death. Relative to the other taxa, orangutans appeared to be less at risk of heart-disease associated mortality. Deaths were often found to be sudden and unexpected. Cardiomyopathies were the most frequently diagnosed cardiovascular disorder. Of these, a group of cardiomyopathies characterized by the presence of myocardial fibrosis were most common, although there were inconsistencies with regards the reporting of other histopathological features. The study identified potential risk factors involved in great ape cardiovascular disease aetiopathogenesis which warrant further exploration. The findings also suggest a need for proactive screening to identify those affected earlier in the disease course. Finally, the study highlights a critical need for improvements to be made to the current approach to post-mortem investigation of great ape heart disease and the subsequent reporting of cardiovascular lesions.

Inconsistencies and inadequacies in both the approach to post-mortem examination of the heart and the subsequent reporting of findings have been blamed for a lack of progression of understanding about great ape cardiovascular disease. In order to minimize and confront these issues in the United States, Association of Zoos and Aquariums-member zoos have necropsy data collated by the Great Ape Heart Project using a protocol developed by their pathology advisors. In Europe, however, there does not appear to be in existence any standardization or process for consistent cardiac post-mortem examination, data collection and/or relevant research. This article provides those readers working within/for European collections with a suggested protocol for the initial post-mortem inspection and sampling of the hearts of great apes. This article also outlines the detailed macroscopic and histopathological examination that is currently carried out at The University of Nottingham, UK, as part of an ongoing prospective, multi-centre study into great ape cardiovascular disease aetiopathogenesis. Finally, readers are offered guidance on the reporting and description specifically of idiopathic myocardial fibrosis (also referred to elsewhere as fibrosing cardiomyopathy). The standardized post-mortem examination of the great ape heart across European zoological collections will ensure a more uniform sampling procedure resulting in the availability of consistent good-quality data. It is hoped that this will, in turn, inform diagnostic pathology and research in this area, and enhance understanding about the aetiopathogenesis of great ape cardiovascular lesions.

Wild bonobos (Pan paniscus), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus, Pongo abelii) are threatened with extinction. In order to help maintain a self-sustaining zoo population, clinicians require a sound understanding of the diseases with which they might be presented. To provide an up-to-date perspective on great ape morbidity and mortality, a systematic review of the zoological and veterinary literature of great apes from 1990 to 2014 was conducted. This is the first review of the great ape literature published since 1990 and the first-ever systematic literature review of great ape morbidity and mortality. The following databases were searched for relevant articles: CAB Abstracts, Web of Science Core Collection, BIOSIS Citation Index, BIOSIS Previews, Current Contents Connect, Data Citation Index, Derwent Innovations Index, MEDLINE, SciELO Citation Index, and Zoological Record. A total of 189 articles reporting on the causes of morbidity and mortality among captive great apes were selected and divided into comparative morbidity–mortality studies and case reports–series or single-disease prevalence studies. The content and main findings of the morbidity-mortality studies were reviewed and the main limitations identified. The case reports–case series and single-disease prevalence studies were categorized and coded according to taxa, etiology, and body system. Subsequent analysis allowed the amount of literature coverage afforded to each category to be calculated and the main diseases and disorders reported within the literature to be identified. This review concludes that reports of idiopathic and infectious diseases along with disorders of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal body systems were particularly prominent within the great ape literature during 1990–2014. However, recent and accurate prevalence figures are lacking and there are flaws in those reviews that do exist. There is therefor

An understanding of the main causes of mortality among captive gorillas is imperative to promoting their optimal care, health, and welfare. A retrospective observational review of mortality among the European zoo–housed western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) population from 2004 to 2014 was carried out. This is the first published study of mortality in this population. Relevant postmortem data were requested from each collection reporting a death during the study period. Age at death enabled grouping into discrete age categories. Deaths were classified according to cause. The main causes of death overall and for each age category and sex were identified. In total, 151 gorillas from 50 European collections died during the study period. Postmortem data were available for 119 (79%) of the deaths, of which 102 (86%) were classified by cause. Diseases of the digestive system were responsible for most (23%) deaths overall. Also of significance (each accounting for 15% overall mortality) were deaths due to external causes (especially trauma) among young gorillas and cardiovascular disease among adult and aged animals. Being a male gorilla was associated with an 8.77- and 5.40-fold increase in risk of death due to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, respectively. Death due to external causes was 4.45 times more likely among females than males. There was no statistically significant difference in life expectancy between male and female gorillas. The authors conclude that further work is needed to understand risk factors involved in the main causes of death and suggest a need for standardization with regard the approach to postmortem examination and data collection, sample collection, and storage across European zoos.

Eight hundred and thirteen European rodents and shrews encompassing seven different species were screened for alphacoronaviruses using PCR detection. Novel alphacoronaviruses were detected in the species Rattus norvegicus, Microtus agrestis, Sorex araneus and Myodes glareolus. These, together with the recently described Lucheng virus found in China, form a distinct rodent/shrew-specific clade within the coronavirus phylogeny. Across a highly conserved region of the viral polymerase gene, the new members of this clade were up to 22% dissimilar at the nucleotide level to the previously described Lucheng virus. As such they might represent distinct species of alphacoronaviruses. These data greatly extend our knowledge of wildlife reservoirs of alphacoronaviruses.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the professional APCs of the immune system, enabling T cells to perceive and respond appropriately to potentially dangerous microbes, while also being able to maintain T cell tolerance toward self. In part, such tolerance can be determined by IL-10 released from certain types of regulatory T cells. IL-10 has previously been shown to render DCs unable to activate T cells and it has been assumed that this process represents a general block in maturation. Using serial analysis of gene expression, we show that IL-10 pretreatment of murine bone marrow-derived DCs alone causes significant changes in gene expression. Furthermore, these cells retain the ability to respond to Toll-like receptor agonists, but in a manner skewed toward the selective induction of mediators known to enhance local inflammation and innate immunity, among which we highlight a novel CXCR2 ligand, DC inflammatory protein-1. These data suggest that, while the presence of a protolerogenic and purportedly anti-inflammatory agent such as IL-10 precludes DCs from acquiring their potential as initiators of adaptive immunity, their ability to act as initiators of innate immunity in response to Toll-like receptor signaling is enhanced.

Great apes housed in zoological collections have an important role to play in conservation. A sound understanding about their health and welfare forms a critical part of their custodianship. Chapter 1 of this thesis outlines a systematic review of 189 published articles relating to the topic of great ape morbidity and mortality (Strong et al. 2016). It concluded that there was a critical need for an up-to-date review of zoo-housed great ape mortality, especially among the European population, to be carried out. Such a review of data relating to 681 great ape deaths was therefore performed and is outlined in Chapter 2 of this thesis. This mortality review identified the main causes of death within each taxa and age group, and allowed for a series of recommendations about future disease investigation and monitoring to be generated. Diseases of the cardiovascular system specifically, were identified as being associated with significant proportional mortality. Despite this, however, understanding about the epidemiology, pathogenesis and diagnosis of cardiovascular disorders among great apes remains poor. The remainder of the thesis therefore outlines a series of further projects and studies designed to confront this lack of knowledge and understanding: Chapter 3 focuses on cardiovascular disease epidemiology and identifies similarities and differences in disease risk between the taxa, highlighting age and male sex as potential risk factors. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the development of two protocols designed to standardise both the ante- and post-mortem investigation of cardiovascular disease in great apes. Chapter 5 addresses the controversial topic of carrying out cardiovascular disease screening in immobilised animals by comparing the effects of two anaesthetic protocols. Finally, Chapter 6 outlines a detailed study of great ape cardiovascular pathology and specifically idiopathic myocardial fibrosis in chimpanzees. The findings of each of the studies outlined in this