Trypanosomiasis and Filariasis

Trypanosomes and filarial nematodes are important pathogens in humans and domestic animals. However, the majority of the infections reported from nonhuman primates (NHPs) are nonpathogenic. Moreover, those hemoparasites are relatively host-specific, which means that transmission from NHPs to humans is highly unlikely with the exception of nonpathogenic Trypanosoma rangeli and Trypanosoma cruzi and the T. brucei complex, which cause Chagas disease and sleeping sickness in humans, respectively. NHPs may also act as reservoir hosts for some nonpathogenic human filarial parasites, e.g., Mansonella streptocerca. Though many studies on those hemoparasites were conducted in the last century, recent studies remain rather neglected due to the logistical, ethical, and administrative challenges associated with the collection of blood or tissue samples in wild NHPs. In this chapter, we present an overview of trypanosomes and filarial nematodes infecting NHPs with information about their distribution, biology, pathogenesis, and their zoonotic potential.