Enterovirus-A76 of South-East Asian ancestry in a Captive Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) in Jos, Nigeria

We recently detected EV-A119 and EV-B111 (previously shown to co-circulate between nonhuman primates (NHPs) and humans) in Nigerian children diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). This study was designed to investigate and catalogue EVs present in captive NHPs in Nigeria. Twenty-seven fecal samples collected from captive NHPs in a Wild Life Park and Zoological garden at Jos, Nigeria in April 2016 were analyzed in this study. Samples were resuspended in a phosphate buffered saline (PBS)/chloroform mixture, and the clarified supernatant was subjected to RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, a Panenterovirus 5 I -UTR assay, and three different enterovirus VP1 snPCR assays. All amplicons from the snPCR assays were sequenced, and enteroviruses identified using the enterovirus genotyping tool and phylogenetic analysis. Eight (29.63%) (two each from Chimpanzees, Patas Monkey, Mona Monkey and Baboon) of the 27 samples were positive for the 5 I -UTR assay. One (3.70%) of the 27 samples was positive for the enterovirus VP1 snPCR assays in addition to its positivity by 5 I -UTR assay. The same sample happens to be one of the two samples from Chimpanzees that tested positive for the 5 I -UTR assay, and it was subsequently identified as EV-A76 of South-East Asia ancestry. This study documents the first recorded attempt to detect and identify enteroviruses in NHPs in Nigeria. It also reports the first detection and identification of EV-A76 in Nigeria and particularly in a NHP. It is of utmost importance that the enterovirus VP1 assays be improved to enable detection of EVs that have been detected in NHPs but yet to be described in humans.