Human Disturbance Increases Health Risks to Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys and the Transfer Risk of Pathogenic Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria from Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys to Humans

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The conflict between humans and wild animals is an inevitably negative product of human disturbance (HD). There is a transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) among wild animals, domestic animals, humans, and their food. On the one hand, if ARGs enter from humans to wild animals, they will have unknown effects on the wild animals. On the other hand, if pathogenic bacteria carrying ARGs in wild animals are transferred to humans, this might bring new diseases to humans. In this report, golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) were used as sentinel animals to test the effect of HD on the health risk of wild animals and the transfer risk of pathogenic antibiotic-resistant bacteria (PARBs) from wild animals to humans. Our result could provide a method to evaluate the effect of HD on the health risk of wild animals and transfer risk of PARBs from wild animals to humans under the eco–environment coupling system of wild animals and humans. In the future, the conflicts between wild animals and humans should be reduced. ABSTRACT: From the perspective of interactions in the human–animal–ecosystem, the study and control of pathogenic bacteria that can cause disease in animals and humans is the core content of “One Health”. In order to test the effect of human disturbance (HD) on the health risk of pathogenic antibiotic-resistant bacteria (PARBs) to wild animals and transfer risk of the PARBs from wild animals to humans, golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) were used as sentinel animals. Metagenomic analysis was used to analyze the characteristics of PARBs in the gut microbiota of golden snub-nosed monkeys. Then, the total contribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) of the PARBs were used to assess the health risk of PARBs to golden snub-nosed monkeys, and the antimicrobial drug resistance and bacterial infectious disease of PARBs were determined to assess the transfer risk of PARBs from golden snub-nosed monkeys to humans. There were 18 and 5 kinds of PARBs in the gut microbiota of golden snub-nosed monkeys under HD (HD group) and wild habitat environments (W group), respectively. The total health risks of PARBs to the W group and the HD group were −28.5 × 10(−3) and 125.8 × 10(−3), respectively. There were 12 and 16 kinds of KEGG pathways of human diseases in the PARBs of the W group and the HD group, respectively, and the gene numbers of KEGG pathways in the HD group were higher than those in the W group. HD increased the pathogenicity of PARBs to golden snub-nosed monkeys, and the PARBs in golden snub-nosed monkeys exhibited resistance to lincosamide, aminoglycoside, and streptogramin antibiotics. If these PARBs transfer from golden snub-nosed monkeys to humans, then humans may acquire symptoms of pathogens including Tubercle bacillus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Yersinia, Pertussis, and Vibrio cholera.