Image Credit: Photograph courtesy of Kathy West.
# 5696
Last October I wrote a couple blogs about the IDSA’s 48th Annual meeting held in Vancouver, including links to several video sessions (see IDSA Video Conference: What’s The Next Big Problem?).
One of the presentations that captured a good deal of media attention was by Charles Y. Chiu, MD, PhD, who detailed the events surround the first known transmission of a novel adenovirus between humans and monkeys.
You can view Dr. Chiu’s brief discussion (along with 4 others) in this 45 minute panel discussion video (IDSA: What's the Next Big Problem?). The abstract: # 196 Identification of a Novel Adenovirus Associated with a Deadly Outbreak in a Titi Monkey Colony [Full Abstract]
Adenoviruses, of which there are many strains, can cause a wide range of illness in humans (respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, etc.), and are believed to be highly species specific.
Human adenoviruses do not normally replicate in monkey cells, nor do monkey adenoviruses replicate in human cells.
In 2009, there was a large outbreak of a serious, previously unidentified illness in a Titi Monkey Colony at the California National Primate Research Center in Davis, California.
In all, 23 primates became extremely ill, and 19 died. Scientists managed to sequence the causative virus, found it was only an 80%-85% match to previously identified adenoviruses. They dubbed this novel virus TMdV (titi monkey adenovirus).
At the same time, one of the researchers at the center developed a severe case of pneumonia, and six months later a convalescent serum sample showed it was from the same adenovirus that infected the Titi Monkeys.
Since last October, the story has grown a bit more. It has now been established that this researcher passed the infection on to a family member.
Both eventually recovered.
The latest details are available in the June 14 th edition of PloS Pathogens .
Cross-Species Transmission of a Novel Adenovirus Associated with a Fulminant Pneumonia Outbreak in a New World Monkey Colony
Eunice C. Chen, Shigeo Yagi, Kristi R. Kelly, Sally P. Mendoza, Nicole Maninger, Ann Rosenthal, Abigail Spinner, Karen L. Bales, David P. Schnurr, Nicholas W. Lerche, Charles Y. Chiu
For those who would rather wade through a shorter, less detailed summary, there are two press releases available.
UCSF confirms first adenovirus to jump between monkeys and humans
Novel adenovirus confirmed to infect both humans and monkeys
(EXCERPT)
But which direction the virus spread – from monkeys to humans or vice versa – remains a mystery. The viral center is now conducting further studies in both humans and monkeys in Brazil and Africa to determine whether TMAdV is common in wild populations of monkeys, as well as whether it has crossed species in those settings to humans who live nearby.
As stated before in this blog, nature’s bio lab is open 24/7, and that it is constantly trying out new genetic combinations in viruses and bacteria, looking for an evolutionary advantage.
And for a virus, jumping to a new, immunologically naive species is like hitting the jackpot; a fresh supply of hosts and an opportunity to adapt further.
Which is why we watch these species jumps with keen interest.
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