Gorillas Breathe Easier When Humans Take Pandemic Precautions


Divided between national parks in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 1,000 mountain gorillas remain in the wild. Many gorillas are deliberately humanized to help facilitate both research and eco-tourism.

Monkeys face a variety of threats, including poaching and habitat loss, but respiratory disease is also a major concern and is the leading cause of death in mountain gorillas.

Outbreaks of respiratory diseases among animals have become common. D., a wildlife veterinarian at the University of California, Davis. “They happen on a regular basis,” Gilardi said. “And we don’t always know what causes them.”

Bacteria and viruses circulate naturally among gorillas and other monkeys, some of which can cause respiratory infections. But scientists have also documented numerous examples. which human pathogensfound its way into great apes, including the rhinoviruses and coronaviruses responsible for the common cold.

In many cases, respiratory viruses cause relatively mild and familiar symptoms in infected gorillas.

Dr. “They may be coughing, sneezing, running noses, swollen eyes, left their food, lethargic, literally not wanting to get out of bed in the morning,” Gilardi said. (Gorillas build burrows at night and sleep in them.) “They look and act just like we do when we have an upper respiratory infection.”

But these outbreaks can sometimes cause serious illness, including pneumonia, and even death. in 2009, human respiratory virus It sickened 11 of 12 gorillas in a single family group in Rwanda. Five of the animals requiring veterinary care and two others, including an infant, died.



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