- 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
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.