Ruth Hofshi/Alamy Stock Photo
As if poaching, logging, habitat loss and climate change aren’t bad enough, wild chimpanzees now face a new, deadly peril: a virus that causes common colds in people. The threat has been exposed after an investigation of an outbreak of respiratory disease that struck chimps in 2013.
The outbreak occurred in the Kanyawara community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. Out of 56 chimpanzees, five died: almost 10 per cent of the population.
A detailed post mortem on a two-year-old chimp called Betty, who died of severe pneumonia, demonstrated almost beyond doubt that human rhinovirus C was to blame. Genes from human rhinovirus C were found throughout Betty’s fluid-filled lungs and respiratory tract. No other viruses or infectious agents were detected.
“It was the smoking gun in that animal, a virus that shouldn’t be