Rare case, wild chimpanzee in Africa affected by leprosy

LONDON – Scientists who research behavior chimpanzee in the African jungle was surprised by a primate suffering from leprosy. This is a rare case and is the first time it has been found in a non-human primate in the wild.

Quoted from Live Science, Thursday (14/10/2021), Chimpanzees infected with leprosy were found on the border between Guinea-Bissau and Ivory Coast.

“Prior to this study, there were no reports of leprosy in wild primates at all,” said study lead author Kimberley Hockings, a senior lecturer in conservation science at the University of Exeter Center for Ecology and Conservation in the UK.

READ: Researchers Record Wild Chimpanzees Masturbating Using Bottles, Imitate Humans?

Previously biologists noticed that one of the chimpanzee an adult male named Woodstock, has leprosy-like lesions on his face. The lesion grew and developed more over the next two years.

“Stool sampling and DNA analysis have once again revealed the presence of leprosy in the wild,” Hocking said.

Almost nothing is known about how chimpanzees are exposed to the bacteria, how the disease is transmitted between individuals, and how long infected chimpanzees can survive, Hockings said.

“We have only just learned about the presence and transmission of leprosy in wildlife,” Hockings told Live Science.

Leprosy is an infectious disease that attacks humans and is caused by the bacterium M. leprae. This disease was identified by scientists at the end of the 19th century. Bacteria are transferred between humans from nasal and oral fluids during contact with an infected person.

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