Background: Natural infections with soil transmitted nematodes occur in non-human primates (NHPs) and have the potential to cross primate-species boundaries and cause diseases of significant public health concern. Despite their presence in most urban centres in Kenya, comprehensive studies on their gastrointestinal parasites are scant. Objective: Conduct a cross-sectional survey to identify zoonotic nematodes in free-ranging NHPs found within four selected urban and peri-urban centres in Kenya. Methods: A total of 86 NHPs: 41 African green monkeys [AGM] (Chlorocebus aethiops), 30 olive baboons (Papio anubis), 5 blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) and 10 red tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) were sampled once in situ and released back to their habitat. Microscopy was used to identify nematodes egg and larvae stages in the samples. Subsequently, PCR coupled with high-resolution melting (PCR-HRM) analysis and sequencing were used to identify nodule worms. Results: NHPs inhabiting densely populated urban environs in Kenya were found infected with a rich diversity of nematodes including three potentially zoonotic nematodes including Oesophagostomum stephanostomum, Oesophagostomum bifurcum and Trichostrongylus colubriformis and co-infections were common. Conclusion: Phylogenetic analysis showed that O. stephanostomum from red tailed and blue monkeys have a close evolutionary relatedness to human isolates suggesting the zoonotic potential of this parasite. Moreover, we also report the first natural co-infection of O. bifurcum and O. stephanostomum in free-ranging AGMs. KEYWORDS: Non-human primates, Oesophagostomum, PCR-HRM, urban, zoonoses.

中文翻译：

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潜在的人畜共患胃肠道线虫会共同感染肯尼亚城市中心的自由放养的非人类灵长类动物

背景：通过土壤传播的线虫的自然感染发生在非人类的灵长类动物（NHP）中，并有可能跨越灵长类物种界线并引起重大公共卫生问题。尽管它们存在于肯尼亚的大多数城市中心，但对其胃肠道寄生虫的全面研究却很少。目的：进行横断面调查，以确定在肯尼亚的四个选定的城市和城郊中心发现的自由放养的NHP中的人畜共患线虫。方法：总共86种NHP：41只非洲绿猴[AGM]（Chlorocebus aethiops），30只橄榄狒狒[ Papio anubis ]，5只蓝猴[ Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni ]和10只红尾猴Cercopithecus ascanius（Cercopithecus ascanius）原位取样一次并释放回它们的栖息地。显微镜用于鉴定样品中的线虫卵和幼虫阶段。随后，PCR结合高分辨率熔解（PCR-HRM）分析和测序被用于鉴定结节蠕虫。结果：在肯尼亚人口稠密的城市环境中发现的NHP感染了多种多样的线虫，其中包括三种潜在的人畜共患线虫，包括食道 食管食肉线虫，双歧食管食管菌和粘膜毛线虫，共同感染是常见的。结论：系统发育分析表明臭鬼菜（O. stephanostomum）红尾猴和蓝猴中的人与人类分离株具有密切的进化相关性，表明该寄生虫具有人畜共患的潜力。此外，我们还报告了在自由放养的AGM中首次发生双歧O. stephanostomum和O. stephanostomum的自然共感染。关键词：非人类灵长类动物，食管食管，PCR-HRM，城市，人畜共患病。