Prevalence of antibodies and cell mediated immune response against Leishmania major in feral nonhuman primates from Kenya

In Kenya, Leishmania major is responsible for human cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Natural infection with L. major of a vervet monkey and experimental susceptibility of some nonhuman primates (NHPs) from Kenya has been established. However, there has been no comprehensive study of the prevalence of zoonotic CL in Kenya. And also, no investigation has been done to assess whether NHPs could be potential reservoir hosts of L. major even when the involvement of reservoir animals is obligatory in transmission of this parasite. To achieve this, wild caught Chlorocebus aethiops (Vervet monkeys n = 213), Papio cynocephalus anubis (olive baboons n = 101) and Cercopithecus mitis (Syke's monkeys n = 64) from five geographical locations in Kenya were screened for antibodies against L. major using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot (WB) analysis. From the population of C. aethiops (n = 213) captured, 57 were used in lymphocyte proliferation assay. ELISA revealed a high prevalence of leishmaniasis sero conversion in olive baboons 78/101 (77.2%), vervet monkeys 129/213 (60.6%) and Sykes’ monkeys 43/64 (67.2%). WB detected anti-L. major antibodies in 48.5% (49/101) of the baboons, 48% (102/213) of vervet monkeys and 37.5% (24/64) of Sykes’ monkey sera. Specific proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to L. major antigen was demonstrated in 17 of the 57 (29.8%) vervet monkeys. In conclusion, the results of serological assays provide strong circumstantial evidence that CL is prevalent in five Provinces of Kenya and that Kenyan NHPs could be could be a potential reservoir hosts of L. major.