Non-invasive testing reveals a high prevalence of simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 antibodies in wild adult chimpanzees of the Tai National Park, Cote d'Ivoire

Little information is available on the prevalence of retrovirus infections in populations of non-human primates living in their natural habitats. To gain such information, methods were developed to detect antibodies to simian T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (STLV-1) in urine from wild chimpanzees. Samples from more than 74 chimpanzees living in three communities in the Tai ( National Park, Cote d'lvoire, were analysed. The prevalence of STLV-1 antibodies in adults and adolescents was significantly higher (35/49, 71(.)4%) than that in infant and juvenile chimpanzees (3/31, 9(.)7%).