Which two diseases can be transferred from humans to nonhuman primates in an animal facility?

Which two diseases can be transferred from humans to nonhuman primates in an animal facility?

• A. Tuberculosis and measles
• B. Enterotoxemia and Aleutian disease
• C. Rabies and Tyzzer's disease
• D. Q-fever and mycobacteriosis

Answer: (A)

In a primate facility, some human illnesses can jump to nonhuman primates, so preventing reverse zoonosis is a key safety concern. Tuberculosis and measles are the two classic examples because both are highly transmissible between people and can readily infect nonhuman primates exposed to an infected person. Tuberculosis is spread through infectious aerosols when someone with active TB speaks, coughs, or sneezes. Nonhuman primates are susceptible to pulmonary TB, and an infected staff member or visitor can expose a colony through shared air spaces or close contact. Controlling this risk requires rigorous personnel health screening, regular TB testing, appropriate respiratory protection, and facility design that limits aerosol spread. Measles is extremely contagious and moves through respiratory droplets and aerosols. If an immune staff member or visitor with measles comes into contact with primates, an outbreak can occur quickly in the colony. Prevention centers on ensuring staff vaccination and visibility of illness, plus strict hygiene, masking, and quarantine of new or exposed animals when necessary. The other options involve diseases that are not typically transmitted from humans to nonhuman primates in ordinary facility settings, or involve transmission primarily in the opposite direction (from animals to humans) or within animal populations. That’s why those pairs don’t represent the common human-to-NHP transmission risk observed in laboratories.

In a primate facility, some human illnesses can jump to nonhuman primates, so preventing reverse zoonosis is a key safety concern. Tuberculosis and measles are the two classic examples because both are highly transmissible between people and can readily infect nonhuman primates exposed to an infected person.

Tuberculosis is spread through infectious aerosols when someone with active TB speaks, coughs, or sneezes. Nonhuman primates are susceptible to pulmonary TB, and an infected staff member or visitor can expose a colony through shared air spaces or close contact. Controlling this risk requires rigorous personnel health screening, regular TB testing, appropriate respiratory protection, and facility design that limits aerosol spread.

Measles is extremely contagious and moves through respiratory droplets and aerosols. If an immune staff member or visitor with measles comes into contact with primates, an outbreak can occur quickly in the colony. Prevention centers on ensuring staff vaccination and visibility of illness, plus strict hygiene, masking, and quarantine of new or exposed animals when necessary.

The other options involve diseases that are not typically transmitted from humans to nonhuman primates in ordinary facility settings, or involve transmission primarily in the opposite direction (from animals to humans) or within animal populations. That’s why those pairs don’t represent the common human-to-NHP transmission risk observed in laboratories.