Forest Fragmentation as Cause of Bacterial Transmission among Nonhuman Primates, Humans, and Livestock, Uganda

摘要

We conducted a prospective study of bacterial trans-mission among humans, nonhuman primates (primates hereafter), and livestock in western Uganda. Humans liv-ing near forest fragments harbored Escherichia coli bacteria that were ≈75% more similar to bacteria from primates in those fragments than to bacteria from primates in nearby undisturbed forests. Genetic similarity between human/livestock and primate bacteria increased ≈ 3-fold as anthro-pogenic disturbance within forest fragments increased from moderate to high. Bacteria harbored by humans and live-stock were approximately twice as similar to those of red-tailed guenons, which habitually enter human settlements to raid crops, than to bacteria of other primate species. Tending livestock, experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms, and residing near a disturbed forest fragment increased ge-netic similarity between a participant's bacteria and those of nearby primates. Forest fragmentation, anthropogenic disturbance within fragments, primate ecology, and human behavior all in. uence bidirectional, interspecifi c bacterial transmission. Targeted interventions on any of these levels should reduce disease transmission and emergence