In our most recent study, we found that in Tanzania infection with Treponema pallidum (TP) subsp. pertenue (TPE) is present in four different monkey species. In order to gain information on the diversity and epidemiological spread of the infection in Tanzanian nonhuman primates (NHP), we identified two suitable candidate genes for multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). We demonstrate the functionality of the MLST system in invasively and non-invasively collected samples. While we were not able to demonstrate frequent interspecies transmission of TPE in Tanzanian monkeys, our results show a clustering of TPE strains according to geography and not host species, which is suggestive for rare transmission events between different NHP species. In addition to the geographic stability, we describe the relative temporal stability of the strains infecting NHPs and identified multi-strain infection. Differences between TPE strains of NHP and human origin are highlighted. Our results show that antibiotic resistance does not occur in Tanzanian TPE strains of NHP origin.

African Parks Odzala Kokoua National Park Brazzaville Republic of the Congo

Biology of Spirochetes Unit Department of Microbiology Institut Pasteur Paris France

CEITEC Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Biology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Biology Faculty of Sciences Kinshasa University Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo

Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro Tanzania

Department of Zoological Sciences Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene University of Goettingen Goettingen Germany

Gene Bank of Primates German Primate Center Leibniz Institute for Primate Research Goettingen Germany

Greater Mahale Ecosystem Research and Conservation Project Dar es Salaam Tanzania

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Czech Republic

Jane Goodall Institute Kigoma Tanzania

Primate Genetics Laboratory German Primate Center Leibniz Institute for Primate Research Goettingen Germany

School of Natural Sciences and Psychology Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool UK

Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute Arusha Tanzania

Work Group Neglected Tropical Diseases Infection Biology Unit German Primate Center Leibniz Institute for Primate Research Goettingen Germany

Zoo Liberec Liberec Czech Republic

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Whole-genome sequencing reveals evidence for inter-species transmission of the yaws bacterium among nonhuman primates in Tanzania

The hare syphilis agent is related to, but distinct from, the treponeme causing rabbit syphilis

High prevalence and genetic diversity of Treponema paraluisleporidarum isolates in European lagomorphs

Low genetic diversity of Treponema pallidum ssp. pertenue (TPE) isolated from patients' ulcers in Namatanai District of Papua New Guinea: Local human population is infected by three TPE genotypes

The genomes of the yaws bacterium, Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue, of nonhuman primate and human origin are not genomically distinct

Penicillin Treatment Failure in Rabbit Syphilis Due to the Persistence of Treponemes (Treponema paraluisleporidarum Ecovar Cuniculus) in the Focus of Infection