MONKEYS, BATS AND INFECTION IN MAN.

When it comes to spreading viruses, bats are thought to be among the worst. Now a new study of nearly 900 nonhuman primates in Bangladesh and Cambodia shows that macaques harbor more diverse astroviruses, which can cause infectious gastroenteritis or diarrhea in humans. A bat has bat astrovirus, but a monkey, you could have everything, a research scientist at the University of Washington National Primate Research Primate Center and a co-author of the study, published in PLOS Pathogens. This research, the scientists said, is the first to show evidence of human astroviruses in animals, and among the earliest to demonstrate that astroviruses can move between mammalian species .Astroviruses from a number of species, including human, bovine, bird, cow and dog, were detected in monkeys, This "challenges the paradigm that AstV (astrovirus) infection is species-specific," the authors wrote. It is still unknown whether these viruses are two-way and can be transmitted to humans. They did find evidence that, in monkeys, two species of astrovirus recombined.Knowing that nonhuman primates can harbor diverse astroviruses -- including novel, recombinant viruses that may be pathogenic and/or more efficiently transmitted -- highlights the importance of continued monitoring, the authors said. This is particularly true in countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, where macaques and humans live side-by-side."This study is an example of the concept of One Health for new viruses," noted author Stacey Schultz-Cherry at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. "This is an indication that we really need to think about animal partners in One Health." Astroviruses are most commonly associated with diarrhea. They can also cause clinical diseases such as nephritis, hepatitis and encephalitis. Astroviruses also can be asymptomatic, depending on the species, the researchers reported. Currently, the only treatment is oral rehydration. story source; science daily.