Respiratory Disease in Chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania: Advancing Noninvasive Methods in Epidemiology

Abstract

In a world of increasing wildlife habitat loss, a growing human population, and expanding connectivity between human, domestic animal and wildlife populations, emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are ever more a complex and disturbing issue. Primates are recognized as an important taxon in EID research, as they may be sentinels, reservoir hosts, or cases in spillover events. Hence, from both public health and conservation perspectives, there is a critical need for disease surveillance in primate populations. The research described in this dissertation focused on the validation of tools and methods for respiratory disease surveillance in free-living primate populations. In conjunction, was the advancement of noninvasive methods of disease surveillance. This endeavor was undertaken to balance the need to better understand respiratory disease impacts with the goal of no disruption to the natural behavior of the study population for health data collection. Accordingly, this dissertation includes a systematic qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the performance of syndromic surveillance in the detection of respiratory outbreaks in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania from 2004-2012, as well as an epidemiological study of those outbreaks. As most of our understanding of respiratory disease in great ape populations originates from studies of major outbreaks, consisting of large-scale morbidity and mortality, this work offers new insights into the dynamics of ostensibly endemic disease trends. The final component of this research was the validation of a noninvasive approach, the application of molecular techniques to feces, for the detection tuberculosis in free-living primates. Thus, the research described in this dissertation exemplifies the direction that future surveillance for disease should take in primate populations: building on syndromic surveillance with the incorporation of noninvasive diagnostic sampling. The coupling of syndromic surveillance with targeted noninvasive, diagnostic sampling during endemic or epidemic disease outbreaks, will generate a powerful system for studying respiratory disease transmission and population impacts among free-living primates.