Could COVID-19 impact great apes?
A recently available commentary, penned by a group of conservation and primate experts, asks the international community to do this to protect the great apes from potential SARS-CoV-2 infection.
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched nearly every corner of the globe. Authorities are battling to slow its spread, and human health has rarely been more acutely in the spotlight.
Some scientists, meanwhile, are asking whether this novel virus might impact nonhuman animals, too.
Experts think that SARS-CoV-2 started in animals and passed to humans. Most researchers now believe that it commenced in bats, then passed into pangolins before infecting humans.
However, it is not clear whether this virus might move from humans into other animals, in an activity is named reverse zoonosis.
Are great apes in peril?
Scientists have already demonstrated that great apes are susceptible to human respiratory infections, such as for example human rhinovirus C, one virus that may cause the common cold.
Because many apes in this group, which include chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas, already are endangered, experts are worried that COVID-19 could devastate populations.
Authored by 25 scientists, a recently available commentary published in Nature raises the alarm.
Among the authors, Thomas Gillespie, Ph.D., a disease ecologist at Emory University, in Atlanta, GA, explains that the COVID-19 pandemic is “a potentially dire situation for great apes. You will find a lot at stake for those at risk of extinction.”
To date, scientists have no idea precisely how apes will react to SARS-CoV-2, as the authors outline:
“It is unknown whether the morbidity and mortality associated with SARS-CoV-2 in humans are similar in apes. However, transmission of even mild human pathogens to apes can bring about moderate-to-severe outcomes.”
The authors reference an outbreak of a different coronavirus in 2016. This particular virus, referred to as OC43, impacted a group of wild chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Over a 2-month period, nine individuals in a group of 33 chimpanzees demonstrated symptoms, such as coughing and sneezing.
Similarly, in 2013, there is a lethal outbreak of human rhinovirus C among wild chimpanzees in Uganda. Through the entire year-long outbreak, most became sick, and five of the 56 chimpanzees died.
What should be done?
As the authors acknowledge, great ape tourism has declined steeply as COVID-19 has progressed, plus some countries have previously suspended this kind of activity.
However, the authors assume that more ought to be done to safeguard these at-risk animals; they write:
“We urge governments, conservation practitioners, researchers, tourism professionals, and funding agencies to lessen the chance of introducing the virus into these endangered apes. They are able to do this by applying the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s best-practice guidelines for health monitoring and disease control in great ape populations.”
The authors also advise that those involved should perform risk assessments: There exists a concern that if these animals are left without guardians, poaching could increase significantly.
“Essential staff have to stay in place,” says Gillespie. “But we need to ensure that staff numbers are low and that they are engaged in proper processes to safeguard themselves, and the apes, from exposure to COVID-19.”
Some persons with SARS-CoV-2 infections experience mild or no symptoms. These folks, Gillespie explains, “are more likely to be hiking in to the national parks of Africa and Asia to see great apes in the open.” He continues, “It could be extremely difficult to monitor if they were infected with COVID-19, given that they may not have obvious symptoms.”
In a press release from Emory University, the authors write, “As professionals dealing with great apes, we bear a responsibility to protect them from our pathogens. We hope to find the best but should plan the worst and critically consider the impact of our activities on these endangered species.”
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com
