A twelfth monkey died at a Hong Kong zoo, with exams underway to find out if it succumbed to the identical bacterial an infection that killed 11 different monkeys previously 10 days.
The De Brazza’s monkey had been remoted since 13 October when the primary eight deaths had been reported.
Autopsies have discovered a considerable amount of sepsis-inducing micro organism that doubtless got here from contaminated soil close to the primates’ enclosures, authorities stated.
Staff who had been digging up soil close to the cages had been believed to have introduced in contaminated soil by their footwear, Hong Kong’s Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism Secretary informed native broadcaster RTHK.
The chance of the an infection spreading to people is “pretty low”, stated Dirk Pfeiffer, a veterinary epidemiologist on the Metropolis College of Hong Kong.
He added that soil contamination is usually underreported in Asia however “it’s at all times worrying if a number of mortalities all of a sudden happen in captive animal populations the place this has not occurred earlier than”.
The 11 monkeys discovered useless earlier embody the critically endangered cotton-top tamarins, in addition to white-faced sakis, frequent squirrel monkeys, and a De Brazza’s monkey.
Authorities stated they died because of melioidosis, an infectious illness that may unfold by contact with contaminated soil, air or water.
It’s brought on by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a soil-dwelling micro organism pressure endemic in tropical and sub-tropical areas.
The twelfth monkey died on Tuesday and early outcomes indicated that it too had “comparable lesions… within the tissues of its organs”, officers stated.
Whereas authorities stated the well being of the remaining 78 mammals within the zoo was “regular”, the mammals part has been closed since 14 October for disinfection and cleansing.
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is town’s oldest park and sits at its centre, unfold over 14 acres.
Animal rights group Peta has stated it’s involved in regards to the threat of zoonotic illnesses like monkeypox, which may unfold from animals to people.
“The one means to make sure the emotional and bodily well being of animals and stop additional deaths and the unfold of zoonotic illnesses is to cease imprisoning them for ‘leisure’ and as a substitute concentrate on defending their pure habitats,” Peta’s marketing campaign supervisor Abigail Forsyth informed the BBC.
The earliest report of melioidosis in Hong Kong dates again to the mid-Seventies, when 24 dolphins all of a sudden died of the illness in Ocean Park, a theme park.