Parasitic nematodes of Oesophagostomum spp., commonly known, as 'nodular worms' are emerging as the most widely distributed and prevalent zoonotic nematodes. Oesophagostomum infections are well documented in African non-human primates; however, the taxonomy, distribution and transmission of Oesophagostomum in Asian non-human primates are not adequately studied. To better understand which Oesophagostomum species infect Asian non-human primates and determine their phylogeny we analysed 55 faecal samples from 50 orangutan and 5 gibbon individuals from Borneo and Sumatra. Both microscopy and molecular results revealed that semi-wild animals had higher Oesophagostomum infection prevalence than free ranging animals. Based on sequence genotyping analysis targeting the Internal transcribed spacer 2 of rDNA, we report for the first time the presence of O. aculeatum in Sumatran apes. Population genetic analysis shows that there is significant genetic differentiation between Bornean and Sumatran O. aculeatum populations. Our results clearly reveal that O. aculeatum in free-ranging animals have a higher genetic variation than those in semi-wild animals, demonstrating that O. aculeatum is circulating naturally in wildlife and zoonotic transmission is possible. Further studies should be conducted to better understand the epidemiology and dynamics of Oesophagostomum transmission between humans, non-human primates and other wild species and livestock in Southeast Asia.

Borneo Nature Foundation Palangkaraya Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Department Evolutionary Biology Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology Max Planck Ring 9 72076 Tübingen Germany

Department of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Munster Technological University Tralee Co Kerry Ireland

Department of Biomedicine Faculty of Medicine Oita University 1 1 Idaigaoka Hasama Yufu Oita 879 5593 Japan

Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Oxford Brookes University Oxford UK

Department of Parasitology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta Indonesia

Department of Physiology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Palackého tř 1 Brno Czech Republic

The Roslin Institute Royal School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Easter Bush Midlothian EH25 9RG UK

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Novel insight into the genetic diversity of strongylid nematodes infecting South-East and East Asian primates