Probable Transmission of Coxsackie B3 Virus from Human to Chimpanzee, Denmark

Sandra C. Abel Nielsen

, Tobias Mourier, Ulrik Baandrup, Tine Mangart Søland, Mads Frost Bertelsen, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, and Lars Peter Nielsen

Author affiliations: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark (S.C.A. Nielsen, T. Mourier, M.T.P. Gilbert, L.P. Nielsen); Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark (U. Baandrup, L.P. Nielsen); Copenhagen Zoo, Copenhagen (T.M. Søland, M.F. Bertelsen); and Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen (L.P. Nielsen)

Abstract

In 2010, a chimpanzee died at Copenhagen Zoo following an outbreak of respiratory disease among chimpanzees in the zoo. Identification of coxsackie B3 virus, a common human pathogen, as the causative agent, and its severe manifestation, raise questions about pathogenicity and transmissibility among humans and other primates.

Six serotypes of coxsackie B viruses (CBVs) (family Picornaviridae, genus Enterovirus) are recognized: CB1–6. CBV infections are common in humans and usually cause minor symptoms. However, CBVs are also linked to several serious acute manifestations in infants, children, and adults. CBVs are one of the most common causes of meningitis and can also cause encephalitis (1). In addition, enteroviruses are well documented as a cause of acute myocarditis, with viruses in the species Human enterovirus B, particularly CBVs, being the most common etiologic agents (2).

The common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and bonobo (P. paniscus) are the closest living relatives to humans (3). Research has shown that wild chimpanzees from Cameroon excrete different types of enteroviruses in their feces and that some of the enteroviruses are closely related to those known to infect humans (4). It has also been shown that fatal myocarditis caused by CBV can occur in other primates, including the orangutan and the snub-nosed monkey (5,6). We report an incident of likely human-to-chimpanzee enterovirus transmission, which raises the question of whether enteroviruses are regularly transmitted between humans, chimpanzees, and other primates.