Respiratory illness (RI) accounts for a large proportion of mortalities in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), and fatal outbreaks, including disease caused by human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infections, have heightened concern about the risk of human pathogen transmission to this endangered species, which is not only critically important to the biodiversity of its ecosystem but also to the economies of the surrounding human communities. Our goal was to conduct a molecular epidemiologic study to detect the presence of HRSV and HMPV in fecal samples from wild human-habituated free-ranging mountain gorillas in Rwanda and to evaluate the role of these viruses in RI outbreaks. Fecal samples were collected from gorillas with clinical signs of RI between June 2012 and February 2013 and tested by real-time and conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays; comparison fecal samples were obtained from gorillas without clinical signs of RI sampled during the 2010 Virunga gorilla population census. PCR assays detected HMPV and HRSV first in spiked samples; subsequently, HRSV-A, the worldwide-circulating ON1 genotype, was detected in 12 of 20 mountain gorilla fecal samples collected from gorillas with RI during outbreaks, but not in samples from animals without respiratory illness. Our findings confirmed that pathogenic human respiratory viruses are transmitted to gorillas and that they are repeatedly introduced into mountain gorilla populations from people, attesting to the need for stringent biosecurity measures for the protection of gorilla health.

呼吸系统疾病 (RI) 占山地大猩猩 ( Gorilla beringei beringei )死亡的很大比例) 和致命的爆发，包括由人类偏肺病毒 (HMPV) 感染引起的疾病，加剧了人们对人类病原体传播到这一濒危物种的风险的担忧，这不仅对其生态系统的生物多样性至关重要，而且对经济周围的人类社区。我们的目标是进行分子流行病学研究，以检测来自卢旺达人类栖息的野生山地大猩猩的粪便样本中 HRSV 和 HMPV 的存在，并评估这些病毒在 RI 爆发中的作用。2012 年 6 月至 2013 年 2 月期间，从具有 RI 临床症状的大猩猩身上收集粪便样本，并通过实时和常规聚合酶链反应 (PCR) 检测进行检测；比较粪便样本是从 2010 年维龙加大猩猩种群普查期间采样的没有 RI 临床症状的大猩猩中获得的。PCR 检测首先在加标样品中检测到 HMPV 和 HRSV；随后，在暴发期间从患有 RI 的大猩猩身上收集的 20 份山地大猩猩粪便样本中，有 12 份检测到 HRSV-A，即全球流通的 ON1 基因型，但未在没有呼吸道疾病的动物样本中检测到。我们的研究结果证实，致病性人类呼吸道病毒会传播给大猩猩，并且它们会反复从人类传入山地大猩猩种群，这证明需要采取严格的生物安全措施来保护大猩猩的健康。在暴发期间从患有 RI 的大猩猩身上收集的 20 份山地大猩猩粪便样本中有 12 份检测到了世界范围内流通的 ON1 基因型，但在没有呼吸道疾病的动物样本中却没有。我们的研究结果证实，致病性人类呼吸道病毒会传播给大猩猩，并且它们会反复从人类传入山地大猩猩种群，这证明需要采取严格的生物安全措施来保护大猩猩的健康。在暴发期间从患有 RI 的大猩猩身上收集的 20 份山地大猩猩粪便样本中有 12 份检测到了世界范围内流通的 ON1 基因型，但在没有呼吸道疾病的动物样本中却没有。我们的研究结果证实，致病性人类呼吸道病毒会传播给大猩猩，并且它们会反复从人类传入山地大猩猩种群，这证明需要采取严格的生物安全措施来保护大猩猩的健康。