Mother-Offspring Transmission and Age-Dependent Accumulation of Simian Foamy Virus in Wild Chimpanzees

Abstract

Simian foamy viruses (SFVs) are thought to infect virtually any adult nonhuman primate (NHP). While many data have accumulated about patterns of codivergence with their hosts and cross-species transmission events, little is known about the modalities of SFV transmission within NHP species, especially in the wild. Here we provide a detailed investigation of the dynamics of SFV circulation in a wild community of Western chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ). We demonstrate that mother-offspring (vertical) SFV transmission is common and hypothesize that it accounts for a number of primary infections. We also show that multiple infections with several chimpanzee-specific SFV strains (i.e., superinfection) commonly happen in adult chimpanzees, which might point to adult-specific aggressive behaviors as a lifelong source of SFV infection. Our data give evidence for complex SFV dynamics in wild chimpanzees, even at a single community scale, and show that linking wild NHP social interactions and their microorganisms' dynamics is feasible.