The expanding SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is creating enormous challenges for human health and wellbeing across the globe. The Leendertz Lab has been working closely with our partners in many African countries to help increase their diagnostic capacity. Many of our lab members are also now involved in diagnostic and genomic surveillance efforts and all non-SARS-CoV-2 related lab work has been halted to conserve resources for the pandemic response effort.
Unfortunately, the developing health emergency also poses a dire threat to our closest living relatives, endangered great apes. In a recent letter in Nature, Thomas Gillespie and Fabian Leendertz raised the alarm along with 25 experts including the President of the African Society of Primatology, Inza Kone; members of the UNEP / UNESCO Scientific Commission of the Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP); members of the Great Ape Section of the IUCN / SSC Primate Specialists Group; and leaders in public health in countries where great apes are found (Coverage and discussions: BBC, The Guardian, National Geographic, Der Spiegel).
Figure: Quarantine for the minimum staff needed to ensure the safety of the gorilla and chimpanzees in Loango National Park, Gabon. Photo: Christian Tchemambela.
Many countries have responded to this risk by putting a halt on tourism and imposing restrictions on those who come into still come into contact with great apes (a detailed discussion with Fabian Leendertz and colleagues at Mongabay). Great ape tourism represents an important source of income for many countries where these animals are found in the wild; developing mechanisms to replace this income during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are clearly needed.
The continued presence of researchers and rangers at great ape research and tourisms sites may be necessary to maintain their critical positive conservation impacts during the pandemic (e.g., reducing the risk of poaching). Such work needs to be carefully done, ensuring that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 introductions to endangered ape populations is minimized. Applying the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s best-practice guidelines for health monitoring and disease control in great-ape populations is an important first step. To help inform park rangers about these best-practice guidelines, we created an infographic that we encourage you to disseminate and use (En, Fr).
Figure: Resources to help design and implement risk reduction strategies at great ape field sites. Posters and flyer creation spearheaded by Yanthe Nobel and Kamilla Pléh.
Wherever implementing a risk mitigation strategy, care must be taken to not interfere with the global health response. For example, shortages of surgical masks may make it unethical to use these resources for working with great apes; one solution to compensate for the lack of masks is to further increase the distance maintained from great apes and to implement more strict quarantine measures. The use of cloth masks is another means of reducing risk; we have created resources for making a mask (Mask pattern), Mask making protocol (En, Fr), Using a mask (En, Fr), and videos demonstrating how to best put on (En high and low resolution, Fr high and low resolution) and take off a mask (En high and low resolution, Fr high and low resolution).
We will be updating this blog regularly with new information and resources – please check back again! If there are questions or concerns, please contact Vet-Support-P3@rki.de and we will do our best to assist you.
Wherever implementing a risk mitigation strategy, care must be taken to not interfere with the global health response. For example, shortages of surgical masks may make it unethical to use these resources for working with great apes; one solution to compensate for the lack of masks is to further increase the distance maintained from great apes and to implement more strict quarantine measures. The use of cloth masks is another means of reducing risk; we have created resources for making a mask (Mask pattern), Mask making protocol (En, Fr), Using a mask (En, Fr), and videos demonstrating how to best put on (En high and low resolution, Fr high and low resolution) and take off a mask (En high and low resolution, Fr high and low resolution).
We will be updating this blog regularly with new information and resources – please check back again! If there are questions or concerns, please contact Vet-Support-P3@rki.de and we will do our best to assist you.
