Ariane Düx

Robert Koch Institut | RKI

The selection pressures that drove dramatic encephalisation processes through the mammal lineage remain elusive, as does knowledge of brain structure reorganisation through this process. In particular, considerable structural brain changes are present across the primate lineage, culminating in the complex human brain that allows for unique behaviou...

A novel hantavirus, named Kiwira virus, was molecularly detected in six Angolan free-tailed bats (Mops condylurus, family Molossidae) captured in Tanzania and in one free-tailed bat in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hantavirus RNA was found in different organs, with the highest loads in the spleen. Nucleotide sequences of large parts of the geno...

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the deadliest respiratory pandemic of the 20th century and determined the genomic make-up of subsequent human influenza A viruses (IAV). Here, we analyze both the first 1918 IAV genomes from Europe and the first from samples prior to the autumn peak. 1918 IAV genomic diversity is consistent with a combination of loca...

Although there have been documented Ebola virus disease outbreaks for more than 40 years, the natural reservoir host has not been identified. Recent studies provide evidence that the Angolan free-tailed bat (Mops condylurus), an insectivorous microbat, is a possible ebolavirus reservoir. To investigate the potential role of this bat species in the...

Humans are considered as the main host for Mycobacterium leprae1, the aetiological agent of leprosy, but spillover has occurred to other mammals that are now maintenance hosts, such as nine-banded armadillos and red squirrels2,3. Although naturally acquired leprosy has also been described in captive nonhuman primates4–7, the exact origins of infect...

Seven years after the declaration of the first epidemic of Ebola virus disease in Guinea, the country faced a new outbreak—between 14 February and 19 June 2021—near the epicentre of the previous epidemic1,2. Here we use next-generation sequencing to generate complete or near-complete genomes of Zaire ebolavirus from samples obtained from 12 differe...

The evolution of human-virus associations is usually reconstructed from contemporary patterns of genomic diversity. An intriguing, though still rarely implemented, alternative is to search for the genetic material of viruses in archeological and medical archive specimens to document evolution as it happened. In this chapter, we present lessons from...

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the deadliest respiratory pandemic of the 20th century and determined the genomic make-up of subsequent human influenza A viruses (IAV). Here, we analyze the first 1918 IAV genomes from Europe and from the first, milder wave of the pandemic. 1918 IAV genomic diversity is consistent with local transmission and frequen...

Over the last two decades, the viromes of our closest relatives, the African great apes (AGA), have been intensively studied. Comparative approaches have unveiled diverse evolutionary patterns, highlighting both stable host-virus associations over extended evolutionary timescales and much more recent viral emergence events. In this chapter, we summ...

Humans are considered the main host for Mycobacterium leprae , the aetiologic agent of leprosy, but spill-over to other mammals such as nine-banded armadillos and red squirrels occurs. Although naturally acquired leprosy has also been described in captive nonhuman primates, the exact origins of infection remain unclear. Here, we report on leprosy-l...

Many non-human primate species in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue, the bacterium causing yaws in humans. In humans, yaws is often characterized by lesions of the extremities and face, while T. pal-lidum subsp. pallidum causes venereal syphilis and is typically characterized by primary lesions on the genital,...

After the 2017 Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak in Likati, a district in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we sampled small mammals from the location where the primary case-patient presumably acquired infection. None tested positive for EBOV RNA or antibodies against EBOV, highlighting the ongoing challenge in detecting animal reservoirs for EB...

Older origins of measles virus Animal domestication by humans is thought to have given many pathogens an opportunity to invade a new host, and measles is one example of this. However, there is controversy about when measles emerged in humans, because the historical descriptions of measles are relatively recent (late ninth century CE). The controver...

Yaws-like lesions are widely reported in wild African great apes, yet the causative agent has not been confirmed in affected animals. We describe yaws-like lesions in a wild chimpanzee in Guinea for which we demonstrate infection with Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue. Assessing the conservation implications of this pathogen requires further resea...

Many infectious diseases are thought to have emerged in humans after the Neolithic revolution. While it is broadly accepted that this also applies to measles, the exact date of emergence for this disease is controversial. Here, we sequenced the genome of a 1912 measles virus and used selection-aware molecular clock modeling to determine the diverge...

Background: Increasing evidence suggests many non-human primate (NHP) species in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue (TPE), the bacterium causing yaws in humans. In humans, yaws is characterized by lesions of the extremities and face, while Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (TPA) causes venereal syphilis and is...

To date, only two rodent-borne hantaviruses have been detected in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we report the detection of a yet unknown hantavirus in a Natal mastomys (Mastomys natalensis) in Méliandou, Guinea, in 2014. The phylogenetic placement of this virus suggests that it might represent a cross-order spillover event from an unknown bat or eulipo...

Living in groups provides benefits but incurs costs such as attracting disease vectors. For example, synanthropic flies associate with human settlements, and higher fly densities increase pathogen transmission. We investigated whether such associations also exist in highly mobile non‐human primate groups (NHP). We studied flies in a group of wild s...

The bacterium Treponema pallidum (TP) causes human syphilis (subsp. pallidum; TPA), bejel (subsp. endemicum; TEN), and yaws (subsp. pertenue; TPE)1. Although syphilis has reached a worldwide distribution2, bejel and yaws have remained endemic diseases. Bejel affects individuals in dry areas of Sahelian Africa and Saudi Arabia, whereas yaws affects...

High-risk ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) have been described in wild birds and rodents worldwide. Rats are of special interest not only due to their indicator role for environmental pollution with multi-resistant bacteria but also as possible infection source. Data on the presence of high-risk ESBL-E in urban wildlife from Africa remain...

Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis (Bcbva) is a member of the B. cereus group which carries both B. anthracis virulence plasmids, causes anthrax-like disease in various wildlife species and was described in several sub-Saharan African rainforests. Long-term monitoring of carcasses in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire, revealed continuous wildlife mort...

Individual serological data (ELISA, WB). Table containing information on the origin of individual samples and results for ELISA and Western Blot testing. Given are the mean measured ELISA OD450nm values for all samples tested (sorted by species) and their respective values for the assay internal negative control. ELISA measurements were conducted i...

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 loc...

Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue (TPE) is the causative agent of yaws. The disease was subject to global eradication efforts in the mid 20th century but reemerged in West Africa, Southern Asia, and the Pacific region. Despite its importance for eradication, detailed data on possible nonhuman disease reservoirs are missing. A number of African non...

Treponema pallidum infections causing yaws disease and venereal syphilis are globally widespread in human populations, infecting hundreds of thousands and millions annually respectively; endemic syphilis is much less common and pinta has not been observed in decades. We discuss controversy surrounding the origin, evolution, and history of these pat...

The severe Ebola virus disease epidemic occurring in West Africa stems from a single zoonotic transmission event to a 2-year-old boy in Meliandou, Guinea. We investigated the zoonotic origins of the epidemic using wildlife surveys, inter-views, and molecular analyses of bat and environmental samples. We found no evidence for a concurrent outbreak i...