henhao
Sign in
EpidemiologybioRxiv

Prevalence of Zika virus infection in wild African primates

Connor R Buechler, Adam L Bailey, Andrea M Weiler, Gabrielle L Barry, Anna J Jasinska, Nelson B Freimer, Cristian Apetrei, Jane E Phillips-Conroy, Clifford J Jolly, Jeffrey Rogers, Thomas C Friedrich, David H O'Connor

Abstract

The recent spread of Zika virus (ZIKV) is alarming due to its association with birth defects. Though the natural reservoir of ZIKV remains poorly defined, the virus was first described in a captive \"sentinel\" macaque in Africa. Here, we examined blood from 239 wild African monkeys and found variable seropositivity.

PDFDOI
Full-text digest ↓

02 /Specification & Classification

Click any tag to browse matching papers

In-depth summary

✦ Multi-agent verified full-text synthesis

Claude Opus 5.5 · xhigh effort · 5 Nov 2026 · from the full text of version 1 (27 Sept 2016) · CC BY-ND 4.0

A dengue-recalibrated ZIKV NS1 IgG ELISA detects prior Zika exposure in 16% of Gambian vervets and 4.9% of Tanzanian baboons among 239 wild African primates.

Historical serosurveys of Zika virus (ZIKV) in wild African primates have not been updated since the 1980s and suffered from antibody cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses such as dengue. Validating a stringent optical-density threshold on experimentally infected primate sera enables specific seroprevalence estimation alongside deep sequencing and qRT-PCR across four wild African monkey populations.

Key results

  1. ShownRaising the positivity cutoff of a commercial recombinant ZIKV NS1 IgG ELISA from DeltaOD > 0.3 to DeltaOD = 1.49 eliminates false positives from prior dengue virus infection.

    In control sera from captive animals experimentally infected with ZIKV (n = 6), DENV-1 (n = 6), DENV-2 (n = 5), DENV-3 (n = 12), DENV-4 (n = 6), vaccinated for YFV (n = 6), or flavivirus-naive (n = 12), DENV-1, DENV-3, and DENV-4 sera cross-reacted above DeltaOD > 0.3 (mean DeltaOD = 0.815 +/- 0.345), whereas the upper 95% confidence interval cutoff (DeltaOD = 1.49) gave 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. · STUDY METHODOLOGY

  2. ShownPrior ZIKV exposure was detected in wild Gambian green monkeys and Tanzanian yellow baboons, but not in Zambian baboons or South African green monkeys.

    Using the DeltaOD = 1.49 threshold across 239 wild primate plasma samples tested in duplicate, 4 of 25 (16%) Gambian vervets (Chlorocebus sabaeus) and 2 of 41 (4.9%) Tanzanian yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) were ZIKV seropositive, whereas none of the 14 Zambian baboons or 159 South African green monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) tested positive. · STUDY METHODOLOGY; CONCLUSION

  3. ShownUnbiased metagenomic RNA deep sequencing and ZIKV-specific quantitative RT-PCR detected no active ZIKV viremia in any of the surveyed wild primate populations.

    Illumina MiSeq random-hexamer RNA sequencing of plasma from South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania (BLASTed against NCBI GenBank viral sequences) and one-step qRT-PCR of all Gambian samples and South African samples with DeltaOD > 0.3 yielded zero ZIKV RNA detections. · STUDY METHODOLOGY; CONCLUSION

Methods, data and reproducibility

The authors assayed 239 plasma samples from four wild African primate populations in duplicate using an XPressBio recombinant ZIKV NS1 IgG ELISA, recalibrating the positivity threshold (DeltaOD = 1.49) with control sera from captive primates with known ZIKV, DENV-1-4, or YFV exposures. They also screened plasma for active ZIKV RNA by Illumina MiSeq metagenomic sequencing and ZIKV-specific one-step qRT-PCR.

  • Wild non-human primate plasma samples from South Africa, The Gambia (2010-2014), Zambia (2010-2014), and Tanzania (1985-1986) · Chlorocebus pygerythrus, C. sabaeus, Papio kindae x P. ursinus, P. cynocephalus · n = 239 samples (159 South Africa, 25 The Gambia, 14 Zambia, 41 Tanzania)
  • Control validation sera from captive primates experimentally infected with ZIKV or DENV serotypes 1-4, vaccinated against YFV, or flavivirus-naive · non-human primate · n = 6 ZIKV, 6 DENV-1, 5 DENV-2, 12 DENV-3, 6 DENV-4, 6 YFV, and 12 naive sera
Methods & tools
XPressBio ZIKV NS1 IgG ELISA, Illumina MiSeq, CLC Genomics Workbench (v6.5), Geneious R9, BLAST, NCBI GenBank, SuperScript III Platinum one-step qRT-PCR, LightCycler 480
Reagents & environment
CLC Genomics Workbench version 6.5; Geneious R9; NCBI GenBank database (as of June 22, 2016)
Reproducibility gaps
Raw Illumina MiSeq sequencing reads and individual-level ELISA optical density measurements are not deposited in a public repository or linked by accession.
Limitations (3)
  • Cross-sectional plasma sampling could not capture acute ZIKV viremia by deep sequencing or qRT-PCR, as protective ZIKV-specific antibodies and viral RNA rarely coexist. · stated by the authors
  • The commercial recombinant ZIKV NS1 IgG ELISA cross-reacts with sera from DENV-1, DENV-3, and DENV-4 infections at the manufacturer-recommended threshold (DeltaOD > 0.3), requiring a stringent recalibrated cutoff (DeltaOD = 1.49). · stated by the authors
  • Sample sizes were small in Zambia (n = 14) and The Gambia (n = 25), and Tanzanian samples were collected in 1985-1986 whereas the other three cohorts were sampled in 2010-2014. · noted in this summary

Who should read:Read this if you study flavivirus zoonotic reservoirs, non-human primate serosurveillance, or assay cross-reactivity between Zika and dengue viruses.

Reproducibility ledger

Nobody has reported trying to reproduce this paper yet. Did you replicate an experiment or run the code? Your report saves the next lab a week.

Sign in to file a reproducibility report.

Related papers

Similarity Map
SelectedSame fieldCross-field
THISRosinski '22Favoretto '16Almeida '19Maness '19Crooks '20Rompay '20
76% semantic matchMicrobiology
J. R. Rosinski, L. E. Raasch, P. Barros Tiburcio+38 more·bioRxiv·Dec 9, 2022