Origin of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 in Rural Côte d’Ivoire - Vol. 18 No. 5 - May 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Origin of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 in Rural Côte d’Ivoire - Vol. 18 No. 5 - May 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 18, Number 5—May 2012

Dispatch

Origin of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 in Rural Côte d’Ivoire

Article Contents

• The Study
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Table 1
• Table 2
• Technical Appendix [331 KB - 8 pages]
• Suggested Citation

Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Edgard V. Adjogoua, Chantal Akoua-Koffi, Claudia Hedemann, Grit Schubert, Heinz Ellerbrok, Siv Aina Jensen Leendertz, Georg Pauli, and Fabian H. Leendertz

Author affiliations: Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany (S. Calvignac-Spencer, C. Hedemann, G. Schubert, H, Ellerbrok, S.A. Jensen Leendertz, G. Pauli, F. H. Leendertz); Institut Pasteur, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (E.V. Adjogoua, C. Akoua-Koffi)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) strains occasionally infect humans. However, the frequency of such infections is unknown. We show that direct transmission of STLV-1 from nonhuman primates to humans may be responsible for a substantial proportion of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 infections in rural Côte d’Ivoire, where primate hunting is common.

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) can induce adult T-cell leukemia or lymphoma and HTLV-1–associated myelopathy or tropical spastic paraparesis. These pathologies are a serious threat to the several million persons infected with HTLV-1 (1).
Although HTLV-1 has spread globally, its geographic distribution is not uniform. Most infected persons live in areas where the virus is endemic and seroprevalence is comparatively high (>1%) (1), i.e., in Japan, Melanesia, South America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that the geographic distribution of HTLV-1 genetic diversity is also not uniform. The most genetic diversity is seen in sub-Saharan Africa, where 6 of the 7 human molecular subtypes (HTLV-1A, B, D, E, F, and G) are found. Of those 6 subtypes, 5 are mainly found in or endemic to central Africa: HTLV-1B, D, E, F, and G (1).
Molecular HTLV-1 subtypes from humans in central Africa belong to composite clades that comprise HTLV-1 strains and simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) strains derived from nonhuman primates (2). Nonhuman primates in Africa are considered to be the source of recurrent zoonotic transmissions of STLV-1 to local human populations; virus transmission is believed to occur during the collection and consumption of nonhuman primate bushmeat. This belief is supported by the fact that self-reported nonhuman primate hunters in Cameroon were infected with viruses closely related to STLV-1 strains circulating among local nonhuman primate prey (3). However, because intrafamilial transmission of HTLV-1B and -1D was also documented among hunters-gatherers in Cameroon (4), it is impossible to sort out cases of direct zoonotic transmission of STLV-1 from cases of consecutive human-to-human spread of virus (evolutionary rates for HTLV-1/STLV-1 are very slow) (5).