著者

石井 則久 鵜殿 俊史 藤澤 道子 伊谷 原一 谷川 和也 宮村 達男 鈴木 幸一

出版者

日本ハンセン病学会

雑誌

日本ハンセン病学会雑誌 = Japanese journal of leprosy (ISSN:13423681)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.80, no.1, pp.29-36, 2011-02-01

参考文献数

25

被引用文献数

1

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&nbsp;&nbsp;Leprosy is suspected to develop after a long period of latency following infection with <i>Mycobacterium leprae</i> (<i>M. leprae</i>) during infancy, but definitive proof has been lacking. We found a rare case of leprosy in a chimpanzee (<i>Pan troglodytes</i>) born in West Africa (Sierra Leone) and brought to Japan around 2 years of age. At 31, the ape started exhibiting pathognomic signs of leprosy. Pathological diagnosis, skin smear, serum anti-phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) antibody, and by PCR analysis demonstrated lepromatous leprosy. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis verified the West African origin of the bacilli. This occurrence suggests the possibility of leprosy being endemic among wild chimpanzees in West Africa, potentially posing a zoonotic risk.