Leave alone Jakadala, here is the deadly human virus killing animals in Uganda

Do you remember the alleged Jakadala disease outbreak that left many Migori residents in fear? Well, researchers have discovered an outbreak of human viruses killing chimpanzees in Uganda.

Less than two years after the first report of wild chimpanzees in Uganda dying as a result of a human ‘common cold’ virus, a new study has identified two other respiratory viruses of human origin in chimpanzee groups in the same forest.

Researchers say the new outbreaks were simultaneous, with one lethal.

The outbreaks affected different chimp communities in the same forest at the same time, between December 2016 and February 2017.

One group, consisting of 205 chimpanzees known as the Ngogo community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park, was especially hard hit, with almost 44 per cent of the animals in the group suffering from respiratory illness.

Twenty-five chimps in the Ngogo group died during the outbreak.

The other group of chimpanzees, knows as the Kanyawara community and consisting of 55 animals, experienced an outbreak where a little more than 69 per cent of animals were affected by respiratory illness.

In contrast to the Ngogo group, no animals from the Kanyawara community died of the disease.

‘These are very common human viruses that circulate worldwide and cause ‘the sniffles’ in kids,’ Tony Goldberg, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor, said.

‘In people, they are no big deal unless the patient has asthma or another underlying condition.’

In chimpanzees, however, the viruses were much more virulent.

‘The chimps cough and sneeze and lie on the forest floor looking miserable. And they lose a lot of weight.’

‘It’s heartbreaking to watch these animals suffer, not only from the disease but also from grief over the loss of members of their society.’

One infant chimp at Ngogo cried for hours after her mother died from the illness, Goldberg says.

The baby clung to her mother’s body before finally wandering off to find the rest of the group.

According to Goldberg, a human origin for both viruses can be inferred because the viruses in the chimps were nearly identical genetically to common strains found in people.

Writing in the journal Emerging Microbes and Infections, the team said they believe the viruses must have been introduced by humans in the area.