[Detection of Mycobacterium ulcerans DNA in water bugs collected outside the aquatic environment in Benin]. / Détection des signatures moléculaires de Mycobacterium ulcerans chez des punaises aquatiques capturées au Bénin en dehors de leur environnement aquatique.

Hosting of Mycobacterium ulcerans by water bugs is now well established and their vectoring role has been demonstrated experimentally. These findings were recently corroborated by detection of viable bacilli in the saliva of wild water bugs. However, the extent of water bug involvement in M. ulcerans ecology remains unclear and difficult to evaluate due to lack of understanding about water bug biology. The purpose of this study is to describe the first detection of M. ulcerans DNA in the tissue of water bugs captured outside the aquatic environment. This finding supports the hypothesis that water bug migratory behavior contributes not only to the spread of M. ulcerans but also to transmission outside the aquatic environment.

Past and present distribution of the red-bellied monkey Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster in Benin.

This study provides data on the past and present distribution of the red-bellied monkey, Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster, a subspecies that is endemic to Benin's southern ecosystems. The original distribution of this subspecies was between the Couffo River and the Nigerian border, but it has since been reduced to regions degraded by intense human settlement (such as the Oueme river valley) and to some better preserved areas, such as the Lama protected forest and some sacred grove forests in wet areas. Local people participated in this research programme and, as a result, many new localities have been discovered. All of these have been in wetlands in southern Benin, mainly in sacred groves. Conservation action for this subspecies will succeed only if local people are involved in its protection.