Occurrence of selected zoonotic fecal pathogens and first molecular identification of Hafnia paralvei in wild Taihangshan macaques (Macaca mulatta tcheliensis) in China

Abstract

Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are hosts to a range of zoonotic and potentially zoonotic pathogens. The present study firstly provides a broader investigation of the presence and prevalence of zoonotic fecal pathogens in wild Taihangshan macaques, a subspecies of rhesus macaque in China. A total of 458 fecal samples were collected between September 2015 and November 2016. Fourteen genera of intestinal parasites (four genera of protozoans and ten genera of helminths) and twelve genera of bacteria were tested for using PCR amplification. The overall samples prevalence of parasitic infection was 98.25%. Entamoeba spp. (89.96%), Balantidium coli (70.09%), and Isospora spp. (28.38%) were the most prevalent protozoa, whereas the predominant prevalent helminths were Trichuris sp. (93.23%), Strongyloides spp. (73.36%), and Oesophagostomum sp. (31.66%). Ten genera of intestinal bacteria were detected in samples of rhesus macaques, including Shigella (31.66%), Escherichia coli (29.91%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (28.38%), Leptospira (26.64%), Campylobacter jejuni (18.34%), Salmonella (13.32%), etc. Eight samples (1.75%) were tested Hafnia-positive based on sequences analysis of 16S rRNA and ampC gene. This is the first molecular characterization of Hafnia infection in NHPs. Our cross-sectional prevalence study provides important information for monitoring the potential transmission of zoonotic infections from wild rhesus macaques.