Chimpanzees have mailboxes?
Anthrax Kills Wild Apes in Ivory Coast -Scientists
Wed Jul 21, 2004 02:32 PM ET
By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Anthrax has killed apes in tropical rainforests in Ivory Coast where it has never been seen before and could pose a threat to humans, German researchers said on Wednesday.
Scientists had known from experiments that the acute infectious disease caused by spore-forming bacteria could kill monkeys but until now they had never come across evidence of it in wild populations.
"Anthrax has never been found killing chimpanzees in the wild before," Heinz Ellerbrok, a virologist at the Robert Koch-Institut in Berlin, said in an interview.
"It could pose a danger to humans because in this part of Africa it is quite common for bushmeat to be consumed and there is also illegal poaching going on," he added.
Conservationists have warned that Africa's lucrative bushmeat industry, which is a key source of food and income for poor people, is threatening species such as gorillas and chimpanzees with extinction.
Scientists are also concerned that people who hunt and eat the wild animals are being infected with animal illnesses that could pose a public health threat to humans.
