Science | Animals | Health
There is a Leprosy Outbreak in Wild Chimps For First Time in History
The dangers of human-animal contact continue to manifest.
Kimberley Hockings works at Cantanhez National Park in Guinea Bissau near the west coast of Africa. She saw four chimpanzees with lesions on their face and hands that were unlike any she’d seen before.
She works as a conservationist and sent the photos to a wildlife veterinarian, Fabian Leendert, who was immediately concerned it was a human disease. Upon testing one of the chimps, who’d recently died, they confirmed it was leprosy.
There have been leprosy cases in captive chimps, mostly in the early 20th century, but never in the wild:
Given our shared DNA, it shouldn’t surprise you that chimps are highly susceptible to human viruses and pandemics.
This is part of why ecotourism is causing a massive decline in great apes. My friend works in ape conservation and it isn’t uncommon, even before coronavirus, for them to wear face masks when working with gorillas and chimps. In many cases, it’s illegal…
