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The close phylogenetic relationship between humans and great apes results in similarities in infection susceptibility and a high potential for pathogen exchange (2,2). Despite this zoonotic potential, previous studies of [...]

Fish serve as indicators of exposure to contaminants of emerging concern (CECs)—chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, hormones, and personal care products—which are often designed to impact vertebrates. To investigate fish health and CECs in situ, we evaluated the health of wild fish exposed to CECs in waterbodies across northeastern Minnesota with varying anthropogenic pressures and CEC exposures: waterbodies with no human development along their shorelines, those with development, and those directly receiving treated wastewater effluent. Then, we compared three approaches to evaluate the health of fish exposed to CECs in their natural environment: a refined fish health assessment index, a histopathological index, and high‐throughput (ToxCast) in vitro assays. Lastly, we mapped adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) associated with identified ToxCast assays to determine potential impacts across levels of biological organization within the aquatic system. These approaches were applied to subsistence fish collected from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation and 1854 Ceded Territory in 2017 and 2019. Overall, 24 CECs were detected in fish tissues, with all but one of the sites having at least one detection. The combined implementation of these tools revealed that subsistence fish exposed to CECs had histological and macroscopic tissue and organ abnormalities, although a direct causal link could not be established. The health of fish in undeveloped sites was as poor, or sometimes poorer, than fish in developed and wastewater effluent‐impacted sites based on gross and histologic tissue lesions. Adverse outcome pathways revealed potential hazardous pathways of individual CECs to fish. A better understanding of how the health of wild fish harvested for consumption is affected by CECs may help prioritize risk management research efforts and can ultimately be used to guide fishery management and public health decisions. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:846–863. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Key Points: 1.Fish exposed to contaminants of emerging concern had histological and macroscopic tissue and organ abnormalities.2.Adverse outcome pathways revealed potential hazardous pathways of individual contaminants of emerging concern to fish.3.The health of fish in undeveloped sites was as poor, or sometimes poorer, than fish in developed and wastewater effluent‐impacted sites based on gross and histologic tissue lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From January 2006 to January 2008, we collected 1,045 fecal samples from 90 individually-recognized, free-ranging, eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) inhabiting Gombe National Park, Tanzania to determine how patterns of parasitism are affected by demographic and ecological covariates. Seventeen parasite species were recovered, including eight nematodes (Oesophagostomum sp., Necator sp., Probstmayria gombensis, Strongyloides fulleborni, Ascaris sp., Trichuris sp., Abbreviata caucasica, and an unidentified strongyle), 1 cestode (Bertiella sp.), 1 trematode (Dicrocoeliidae), and 7 protozoa (Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Iodamoeba butschlii, Troglodytella abrassarti, Troglocorys cava, Balantidium coli, and an unidentified protozoa). Significant differences were observed in interannual infection prevalence and parasite richness between 2006 and 2007. Intercommunity comparisons demonstrated higher prevalence of parasites for the Mitumba compared with Kasekela chimpanzee community. Prevalence of several parasites was strongly correlated with monthly rainfall patterns for both 2006 and 2007. Subadult chimpanzees had lower prevalence for most parasite species compared with adults in both years and also yielded a lower average parasite species richness. No significant differences were observed between males and females in prevalence in 2006. However, in 2007 the prevalence of S. fulleborni and I. butschlii were higher in males than in females. Parasite prevalence and richness were substantially higher in this multiyear study compared with previous short-term studies of the gastrointestinal parasites of Gombe chimpanzees. This coupled with the significant interannual and interseasonal variation, demonstrated in this study, emphasizes the importance of multiyear monitoring with adequate sample size to effectively determine patterns of parasitism in wild primate populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:534-544, 2010. [c] 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. KEY WORDS apes; gastrointestinal parasites; health; noninvasive analyses; zoonoses DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21348

The susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) of nonhuman primates in captivity is established (1,2), although the extent of the disease among free-living primates remains unclear. Much of our understanding of primate [...]

African primates are naturally infected with over 40 different simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs), two of which have crossed the species barrier and generated human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 (HIV-1 and HIV-2) (1,2). Unlike the human viruses, however, SIVs do not generally cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in their natural hosts (3). Here we show that SIVcpz, the immediate precursor of HIV-1, is pathogenic in free-ranging chimpanzees. By following 94 members of two habituated chimpanzee communities in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, for over 9 years, we found a 10- to 16-fold higher age-corrected death hazard for SIVcpz-infected (n = 17) compared to uninfected (n = 77) chimpanzees. We also found that SIVcpz-infected females were less likely to give birth and had a higher infant mortality rate than uninfected females. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization of post-mortem spleen and lymph node samples from three infected and two uninfected chimpanzees revealed significant [CD4.sup.+] T-cell depletion in all infected individuals, with evidence of high viral replication and extensive follicular dendritic cell virus trapping in one of them. One female, who died within 3 years of acquiring SIVcpz, had histopathological findings consistent with end-stage AIDS. These results indicate that SIVcpz, like HIV-1, is associated with progressive [CD4.sup.+] T-cell loss, lymphatic tissue destruction and premature death. These findings challenge the prevailing view that all natural SIV infections are non-pathogenic and suggest that SIVcpz has a substantial negative impact on the health, reproduction and lifespan of chimpanzees in the wild., Little is known about the in vivo pathogenicity of SIVcpz because, until recently, it has been impossible to identify and monitor infected apes in the wild (2). Since the first [...]