Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

Constanze Hoffmann; Fee Zimmermann; Roman Biek; Hjalmar Kuehl; Kathrin Nowak; Roger Mundry; Anthony Agbor; Samuel Angedakin; Mimi Arandjelovic; Anja Blankenburg; Gregory Brazolla; Katherine Corogenes; Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann; Tobias Deschner; Paula Dieguez; Karsten Dierks; Ariane Düx; Susann Dupke; Henk Eshuis; Pierre Formenty; Yisa Ginath Yuh; Annemarie Goedmakers; Jan F. Gogarten; Anne Céline Granjon; Scott McGraw; Roland Grunow; John Hart; Sorrel Jones; Jessica Junker; John Kiang; Kevin Langergraber; Juan Lapuente; Kevin Lee; Siv Aina Leendertz; Floraine Léguillon; Vera Leinert; Therese Löhrich; Sergio Marrocoli; Kerstin Mätz-Rensing; Amelia Meier; Kevin Merkel; Sonja Metzger; Mizuki Murai; Svenja Niedorf; Hélène De Nys; Andreas Sachse; Joost Van Schijndel; Ulla Thiesen; Els Ton; Doris Wu; Lothar H. Wieler; Christophe Boesch; Silke R. Klee; Roman M. Wittig; Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer; Fabian H. Leendertz

doi:10.1038/nature23309

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

Constanze Hoffmann, Fee Zimmermann, Roman Biek, Hjalmar Kuehl, Kathrin Nowak, Roger Mundry, Anthony Agbor, Samuel Angedakin, Mimi Arandjelovic, Anja Blankenburg, Gregory Brazolla, Katherine Corogenes, Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann, Tobias Deschner, Paula Dieguez, Karsten Dierks, Ariane Düx, Susann Dupke, Henk Eshuis, Pierre FormentyYisa Ginath Yuh, Annemarie Goedmakers, Jan F. Gogarten, Anne Céline Granjon, Scott McGraw, Roland Grunow, John Hart, Sorrel Jones, Jessica Junker, John Kiang, Kevin Langergraber, Juan Lapuente, Kevin Lee, Siv Aina Leendertz, Floraine Léguillon, Vera Leinert, Therese Löhrich, Sergio Marrocoli, Kerstin Mätz-Rensing, Amelia Meier, Kevin Merkel, Sonja Metzger, Mizuki Murai, Svenja Niedorf, Hélène De Nys, Andreas Sachse, Joost Van Schijndel, Ulla Thiesen, Els Ton, Doris Wu, Lothar H. Wieler, Christophe Boesch, Silke R. Klee, Roman M. Wittig, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Fabian H. Leendertz

Human Evolution and Social Change, School of (SHESC)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	82-85
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	548
Issue number	7665
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23309
State	Published - Aug 2 2017

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Hoffmann, C., Zimmermann, F., Biek, R., Kuehl, H., Nowak, K., Mundry, R., Agbor, A., Angedakin, S., Arandjelovic, M., Blankenburg, A., Brazolla, G., Corogenes, K., Couacy-Hymann, E., Deschner, T., Dieguez, P., Dierks, K., Düx, A., Dupke, S., Eshuis, H., ... Leendertz, F. H. (2017). Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest. Nature, 548(7665), 82-85. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23309

Hoffmann, C, Zimmermann, F, Biek, R, Kuehl, H, Nowak, K, Mundry, R, Agbor, A, Angedakin, S, Arandjelovic, M, Blankenburg, A, Brazolla, G, Corogenes, K, Couacy-Hymann, E, Deschner, T, Dieguez, P, Dierks, K, Düx, A, Dupke, S, Eshuis, H, Formenty, P, Yuh, YG, Goedmakers, A, Gogarten, JF, Granjon, AC, McGraw, S, Grunow, R, Hart, J, Jones, S, Junker, J, Kiang, J, Langergraber, K, Lapuente, J, Lee, K, Leendertz, SA, Léguillon, F, Leinert, V, Löhrich, T, Marrocoli, S, Mätz-Rensing, K, Meier, A, Merkel, K, Metzger, S, Murai, M, Niedorf, S, De Nys, H, Sachse, A, Van Schijndel, J, Thiesen, U, Ton, E, Wu, D, Wieler, LH, Boesch, C, Klee, SR, Wittig, RM, Calvignac-Spencer, S & Leendertz, FH 2017, 'Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest', Nature, vol. 548, no. 7665, pp. 82-85. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23309

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abstract = "Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.",

author = "Constanze Hoffmann and Fee Zimmermann and Roman Biek and Hjalmar Kuehl and Kathrin Nowak and Roger Mundry and Anthony Agbor and Samuel Angedakin and Mimi Arandjelovic and Anja Blankenburg and Gregory Brazolla and Katherine Corogenes and Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann and Tobias Deschner and Paula Dieguez and Karsten Dierks and Ariane D{\"u}x and Susann Dupke and Henk Eshuis and Pierre Formenty and Yuh, {Yisa Ginath} and Annemarie Goedmakers and Gogarten, {Jan F.} and Granjon, {Anne C{\'e}line} and Scott McGraw and Roland Grunow and John Hart and Sorrel Jones and Jessica Junker and John Kiang and Kevin Langergraber and Juan Lapuente and Kevin Lee and Leendertz, {Siv Aina} and Floraine L{\'e}guillon and Vera Leinert and Therese L{\"o}hrich and Sergio Marrocoli and Kerstin M{\"a}tz-Rensing and Amelia Meier and Kevin Merkel and Sonja Metzger and Mizuki Murai and Svenja Niedorf and {De Nys}, H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Andreas Sachse and {Van Schijndel}, Joost and Ulla Thiesen and Els Ton and Doris Wu and Wieler, {Lothar H.} and Christophe Boesch and Klee, {Silke R.} and Wittig, {Roman M.} and S{\'e}bastien Calvignac-Spencer and Leendertz, {Fabian H.}",

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T1 - Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

AU - Hoffmann, Constanze

AU - Zimmermann, Fee

AU - Biek, Roman

AU - Kuehl, Hjalmar

AU - Nowak, Kathrin

AU - Mundry, Roger

AU - Agbor, Anthony

AU - Angedakin, Samuel

AU - Arandjelovic, Mimi

AU - Blankenburg, Anja

AU - Brazolla, Gregory

AU - Corogenes, Katherine

AU - Couacy-Hymann, Emmanuel

AU - Deschner, Tobias

AU - Dieguez, Paula

AU - Dierks, Karsten

AU - Düx, Ariane

AU - Dupke, Susann

AU - Eshuis, Henk

AU - Formenty, Pierre

AU - Yuh, Yisa Ginath

AU - Goedmakers, Annemarie

AU - Gogarten, Jan F.

AU - Granjon, Anne Céline

AU - McGraw, Scott

AU - Grunow, Roland

AU - Hart, John

AU - Jones, Sorrel

AU - Junker, Jessica

AU - Kiang, John

AU - Langergraber, Kevin

AU - Lapuente, Juan

AU - Lee, Kevin

AU - Leendertz, Siv Aina

AU - Léguillon, Floraine

AU - Leinert, Vera

AU - Löhrich, Therese

AU - Marrocoli, Sergio

AU - Mätz-Rensing, Kerstin

AU - Meier, Amelia

AU - Merkel, Kevin

AU - Metzger, Sonja

AU - Murai, Mizuki

AU - Niedorf, Svenja

AU - De Nys, Hélène

AU - Sachse, Andreas

AU - Van Schijndel, Joost

AU - Thiesen, Ulla

AU - Ton, Els

AU - Wu, Doris

AU - Wieler, Lothar H.

AU - Boesch, Christophe

AU - Klee, Silke R.

AU - Wittig, Roman M.

AU - Calvignac-Spencer, Sébastien

AU - Leendertz, Fabian H.

PY - 2017/8/2

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N2 - Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.

AB - Anthrax is a globally important animal disease and zoonosis. Despite this, our current knowledge of anthrax ecology is largely limited to arid ecosystems, where outbreaks are most commonly reported. Here we show that the dynamics of an anthrax-causing agent, Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis, in a tropical rainforest have severe consequences for local wildlife communities. Using data and samples collected over three decades, we show that rainforest anthrax is a persistent and widespread cause of death for a broad range of mammalian hosts. We predict that this pathogen will accelerate the decline and possibly result in the extirpation of local chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) populations. We present the epidemiology of a cryptic pathogen and show that its presence has important implications for conservation.

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EP - 85

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

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ER -

Persistent anthrax as a major driver of wildlife mortality in a tropical rainforest

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