Nguyen 1

Johnny Nguyen
Greg McClure
Writing 39C
17 April 2016
A Historical Review on the Scientific Literature of Zoonotic Diseases and Human-Animal
Genetics
Life expectancy rates have skyrocketed relative to the pre-Modern era, but at what
expense? Following the Industrial Revolution, advances in hygiene and medicine have
drastically added years onto the average life expectancy of humans. Today, we have an extensive
range of drugs to treat a good handful of mans known diseases. Although some being major
breakthroughs, the discovery and development of many medicines were facilitated by the
practice of animal testing. However, the reliability of animal testing has been hotly debated
throughout the past, one of the concerns relating to our immune responses relative to other
animals. Humans and animals have different immune mechanisms and therefore react to
different substances and diseases in comparison to one another. This idea is consistent with the
animals that scientists typically test on. In this review, I will cover research that acknowledge the
immune responses of animals with an emphasis on animals that are used in animal testing. I will
first reference an interview and an article that both refer to a 1997 case where a primate worker
died as a result of being infected with the herpes B virus, published in 1997 and 1998,
respectively. Later, I will also be referencing a study on the prevalence of the Ebola virus and
dogs conducted in 2005 by the Centers for Disease and Control and an article about the recent
2014 Ebola epidemic. In addition, I will be citing a book about leptospirosis, an infection that
can be characteristized by meningitis and liver damage, and mice that was published in 2015.

These studies provides strong groundwork for the recognition of our immunological differences
that we have in contrast to animals.
If scientists were to have the option to choose what animals to test human products on,
the most ideal animals would likely be non-human primates, and humans, of course, are
primates. Despite our relatively close genetic similarity with non-human primates, it is not
unlikely that we will each have our own unique responses to being infected with the same virus.
In October 1997, a research assistant at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center died as a
result of a disease that jumped from a rhesus monkey onto her. Elizabeth Griffin was allegedly
not wearing any eye safety gear, and so the body fluid from the rhesus monkey splashed into her
eyes. Two months later, Griffin died on December 10, 1997 as a result of a herpes B infection
(Palevitz). We know that diseases must be transmitted between two individuals, as opposed to
spontaneously contracting a disease, as is the case with the rhesus monkey and Elizabeth Griffin.
Monkeys and humans, even though thought to be closely related together, can react differently to
certain viruses. In an interview with writer Patricia Guthrie, epidemiologist Jane Koehler and
Louisa Chapman from the CDC state that the monkeys infected with the B virus show no
symptoms, but when passed to humans leads to deadly infections of the brain (Guthrie). This
isnt the only case where a human has died as a result of a monkey infecting him or her with the
herpes B virus as mentioned in Guthries interview. Dr. Louisa Chapman from the CDC cited
another case in 1990 when a primate lab worker got infected by the same disease and
died(Guthrie). This evidence shows that a disease as harmless to an animal such as a monkey can
actually be fatal in some cases for humans. Humans and monkeys, although genetically closer to
each other than any other animal, exhibit different responses to the herpes B virus and possibly
other viruses, which could suggest that even more unrelated animals can show more inconsistent
reactions to diseases. And these inconsistencies in immunological responses to diseases arent
limited to just herpes B.

Just like the rhesus monkeys, dogs can also carry a human disease asymptomatically that
would otherwise be potentially fatal in humans. Like the disease caused by herpes B, Ebola is
considered a zoonotic disease and is able to jump from some animals to humans. According the
World Health Organization, WHO, symptoms of Ebola in humans include fever, fatigue,
vomiting, internal and external bleeding, and impaired liver function just to name a few (WHO).
In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease and Control, researchers took blood samples of
dogs near Gabon in 2001-2002 during an Ebola outbreak. According to research done by the
CDC, however, the dogs were found to be asymptomatic even though some of them were found
to be infected with the Ebola virus. Symptoms did not develop in any of these highly exposed
animals during the outbreak (Allela). This study highlights the observation that even though the
dogs were confirmed to be infected with the virus, none of them showed any symptoms, further
emphasizing the idea that humans and animals can react drastically differently to different
diseases. Dogs are also occasionally used in animal testing and, likewise, can play a key role in
drug development. However, the use of dogs in animal testing is not popular and not as
ubiquitous as the use of other more sustainable animals.
If scientists wanted quality animal test subjects, they would use non-human primates.
However, if scientists were instead looking for quantity of animal test subjects, they would work
with rats and mice instead, and this tends to be the case. These rodents are quick to reproduce, so
they tend to be abundant. But because they are so widely used, their impact on the biomedical
industry is large. Like non-human primates and dogs though, their immunological responses to
diseases is flawed. The human symptoms of the bacterial disease, leptospirosis, according to the
CDC, include kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and potentially death. A study was done
by Professor Ben Adler with rats and leptospirosis. In the study, Adler and his colleagues
observed cultured spirochetes from the kidneys of rats and observed that the rats were
asymptomatic of the disease (Adler). Like the first two cases, the immune responses of the

animal differs from that of humans, suggesting that animal and human immune responses are
dissimilar.

Adler, Ben. "Leptospira and Leptospirosis." Springer. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr.
2016.

Allela, Los, Olivier Bourry, Rgis Pouillot, Andr Dlicat, Philippe Yaba,
Brice Kumulungui, Pierre Rouquet, Jean-Paul Gonzalez, and Eric M.
Leroy. "Ebola Virus Antibody Prevalence in Dogs and Human Risk."
Emerg. Infect. Dis. Emerging Infectious Diseases 11.3 (2005): 38590. Centers for Disease and Control. Mar. 2005. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Bajekal, Naina. "Can Dogs and Other Animals Give Us Ebola?" Time. Time, 8
Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Guthrie, Patricia. "Yerkes Tragedy: Death by Herpes B." Primate Info Net:.
N.p., 16 Dec. 1997. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Palevitz, Barry. "Death Raises Safety Issues For Primate Workers." The
Scientist. N.p., 2 Mar. 1998. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

CDC. "Leptospirosis." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

WHO. "Ebola Virus Disease." World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 18
Apr. 2016.