FEATURE: RESPIRATORY DISEASE CLAIMS THE LIVES OF AT LEAST SEVEN GOMBECHIMPS

by Felicia B. Nutter
Department of Companion Animal & Special Species Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
North Carolina State University

Many of you have read Dr. Jane Goodall's recent article on the birth oftwins (a male named Roots and a female named Shoots) to Rafiki, a member ofGombe's Mitumba community. Sadly, on April 2 researchers at Gombe sawShoots being carried by an unrelated adolescent female, with no sign of Rafikior Roots nearby. Such an observation is often a clue that the mother is deador severely debilitated, so concerned researchers quickly organized a search.Rafiki's body was found shortly thereafter, and Roots is presumed dead as well,though he has not been located. Thus Gombe staff learned that the Mitumbacommunity might be threatened by an unknown pathogen.

The Kigoma District Veterinary Officer, Dr. Leonard Msengi, performed apost-mortem examination of Rafiki and also observed several group members,noting difficulty breathing, coughing, and nasal discharge in some chimps. Hesuspected a viral upper respiratory infection, with possible secondary bacterialinfection resulting in pneumonia. He recommended a course of penicillen andtrimethoprim-sulfa antibiotics for all Mitumba chimps that could be located.

It is currently the height of the rainy season at Gombe, a time of yearwhen humans and animals alike face colder temperatures and pervasivedampness. Cold and flu-like symptoms are common, but not usually fatal. Inthe days following Rafiki's death, the Gombe staff searched for missingindividuals. Unfortunately, within a week six other bodies were identified.Many group members remain unaccounted for, including most of the adultmales. The researchers have been working diligently to administerappropriate doses of antibiotics (hidden in bananas) to the chimps that can befound. So far their efforts seems to be paying off, as there have been no furtherdeaths in treated animals. There has also been no evidence of spread to theneighboring Kasakela community.

These problems are not new, and are not unique to Gombe. The PanAfrica Newsletter has carried reports of recent epidemics in chimpanzees atTai Forest and Mahale Mountains. Gombe also suffered another major outbreakof presumptive respiratory disease in 1987, and a paralytic disease (probablypoliomyelitis) in 1966. Please see previous issues of PAN for these discussions.

Because the outbreak is so recent, the infectious agent and potentialsources of the pathogen have not yet been identified. The climate, terrain, andsize of the chimps' home range make it difficult to find bodies in time tocollect appropriate tissue samples, but the scientists are persevering. We hopeto work with colleagues at Tanzanian National Parks to clarify the causes of theoutbreak, and to prevent such tragedies in the future if possible.

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