Wild great apes as sentinels and sources of infectious disease
Clinical Microbiology and Infection·
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03816.x
- PMID
- 22448813
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- W1915682965
- Study type
- Genomic study
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Emerging zoonotic diseases from great apes pose serious global health threats. Surveillance of wild great ape populations may enable early detection of novel pathogens and human disease outbreaks in high-risk regions.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The review examines how studying microorganisms in wild great apes can lead to discovery of novel human pathogens and how these primates can serve as sentinels for disease outbreaks in regions with high emergence likelihood.
Study design
This is a review article synthesizing evidence on microorganism exchange between wild great apes and humans, focusing on pathogen discovery and sentinel surveillance approaches.
Population and setting
The review focuses on wild great ape populations living in their natural habitats, particularly those habituated to human presence, in regions with high disease emergence potential.
Main findings
The close phylogenetic relationship between great apes and humans creates high potential for microorganism exchange. Improved sampling, sample preservation, and diagnostic capacity are enhancing understanding of microorganism diversity and distribution in wild great apes. Non-invasive diagnostics combined with observational health data from habituated apes show promise for discovering pathogens highly relevant to humans.
Public-health relevance
Emerging zoonotic diseases from great apes pose serious global health threats. Surveillance of wild great ape populations may enable early detection of novel pathogens and human disease outbreaks in high-risk regions.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. The original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation of methodological limitations, data quality assessments, and specific evidence synthesis approaches used in the review.
GIDS interpretation
This review article would be discoverable in GIDS through its links to One Health, surveillance, and outbreak investigation topics, as well as its connection to gastroenteritis as a disease category. It provides contextual background on great apes as sentinel species for zoonotic disease emergence rather than reporting specific outbreak events.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 11 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.