Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 in Wild Nonhuman Primates, Zambia

Michihito Sasaki, Akihiro Ishii, Yasuko Orba, Yuka Thomas, Bernard M. Hang’ombe, Ladslav Moonga, Aaron S. Mweene, Hirohito Ogawa, Ichiro Nakamura, Takashi Kimura, and Hirofumi Sawa

Author affiliations: Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan (M. Sasaki, A. Ishii, Y. Orba, Y. Thomas, H. Ogawa, I. Nakamura, T. Kimura, H. Sawa); University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia (B.M. Hang’ombe, L. Moonga, A.S. Mweene)

Abstract

Human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) genome was detected in 4 baboons in Zambia. Antibody for HPIV3 was detected in 13 baboons and 6 vervet monkeys in 2 distinct areas in Zambia. Our findings suggest that wild nonhuman primates are susceptible to HPIV3 infection.

Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) (family Paramyxoviridae) are major causes of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and elderly persons. HPIVs are second to respiratory syncytial virus as the cause of hospitalizations for lower respiratory tract infections (1,2) and account for 6.8% of all hospitalizations for fever or acute respiratory illness in children < 5 years of age (3). Among the 4 serotypes, HPIV3 (genus Respirovirus) causes particularly severe disease, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia (1–3). In addition to young children, HPIV3 poses a threat to the elderly and to immunocompromised adults. HPIV3 infection also causes severe illness leading to death (35%–75% death rate) in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants (4,5). Although the virus is distributed worldwide and maintained in human communities, its epidemiology in Africa is unclear.
Nonhuman primates, the closest living relatives of humans, are susceptible to paramyxoviruses that cause respiratory disease in humans. Recently, other researchers reported infections with human respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus in wild nonhuman primates in Africa (6,7). Therefore, as a first step in determining the pervasiveness of infection in African wild nonhuman primates, we screened these animals for paramyxovirus in Zambia. The HPIV3 genome was identified by seminested broad-spectrum reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Thereafter, we investigated HPIV3 infection in wild nonhuman primates by using molecular and serologic methods.