Emerging Infectious Diseases (Jun 2020)

Yaws Disease Caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue in Wild Chimpanzee, Guinea, 2019

  • Benjamin Mubemba,
  • Emeline Chanove,
  • Kerstin Mätz-Rensing,
  • Jan F. Gogarten,
  • Ariane Düx,
  • Kevin Merkel,
  • Caroline Röthemeier,
  • Andreas Sachse,
  • Helene Rase,
  • Tatyana Humle,
  • Guillaume Banville,
  • Marine Tchoubar,
  • Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer,
  • Christelle Colin,
  • Fabian H. Leendertz

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2606.191713
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 6
pp. 1283 – 1286

Abstract

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Yaws-like lesions are widely reported in wild African great apes, yet the causative agent has not been confirmed in affected animals. We describe yaws-like lesions in a wild chimpanzee in Guinea for which we demonstrate infection with Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue. Assessing the conservation implications of this pathogen requires further research.

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