A systematic review of evidence that enteroviruses may be zoonotic

Abstract

Enteroviruses infect millions of humans annually worldwide, primarily infants and children. With a high mutation rate and frequent recombination, enteroviruses are noted to evolve and change over time. Given the evidence that human enteroviruses are commonly found in other mammalian species and that some human and animal enteroviruses are genetically similar, it is possible that enzootic enteroviruses may also be infecting human populations. We conducted a systematic review of the English and Chinese literature published between 2007 and 2017 to examine evidence that enteroviruses may be zoonotic. Of the 2704 articles screened for inclusion, 16 articles were included in the final review. The review of these articles yielded considerable molecular evidence of zooanthroponosis transmission, particularly among non-human primates. While there were more limited instances of anthropozoonosis transmission, the available data support the biological plausibility of cross-species transmission and the need to conduct periodic surveillance at the human–animal interface.

These authors contributed equally: Jane K. Fieldhouse, Xinye Wang

These authors contributed equally: Kerry A. Mallinson, Rick W. Tsao

These authors contributed equally: Jane K. Fieldhouse, Xinye Wang

These authors contributed equally: Kerry A. Mallinson, Rick W. Tsao

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Dr. Dean Erdman, formerly of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for reviewing an earlier version of this manuscript. This systematic review was supported by Professor Gregory Gray’s Duke Global Health Institute discretionary funding.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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