Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo shut its entrance to visitors in an effort to protect the mountain gorillas
(Gorilla beringei beringei) that live there. It is not known if SARS CoV-2 (corona virus) can make the interspecies jump from humans to great apes, but it is certainly possible since the two share 95% of the same genetic material, and there is abundant scientific evidence that great apes are susceptible to human pathogens. IUCN has advised site managers to take precautions to prevent the spread of the infection that could exterminate already critically endangered species. The virus has killed 26,000 humans worldwide (3/26). Ebola virus is believed to have killed 5,500 gorillas in the Lossi Sanctuary between 2001 and 2005. Only
about 604 mountain gorillas remain in the Virunga Mountains which border on DRC and Uganda. Their
slow increase in numbers after tittering on the brink of extinction despite tremendous threats is considered a conservation success story of first rank.
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| Kabirizi's family, credit: N. Osborne |
Even mild respiratory diseases in humans can kill gorillas.
In 2009 human metapneumonvirus killed a mother gorilla and her 3 day old infant. Park rangers often wear masks when in close proximity of their charges. SARS CoV-2 has already made one species jump. Scientists think the virus may have jumped from bats to humans. There are unverified reports that the first virus cases in Wuhan started in a market where bush meat is sold. Chinese people have a reputation of consuming types of wild food that westerners consider abhorrent. Perhaps this unconfirmed story is why the racist Il Douche insists on calling the disease, the "Chinese Virus".
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| human village on the edge of Virunga NP, credit N. Osborne |
Rwanda has also officially closed three of its parks that are home to apes. Uganda's remain open, but western countries from which most tourists come have stopped flights to Uganda. Gorillas and apes are a huge tourist draw, and most of the gorillas in the Virunga area are accustom to human visitors. The park closures will certainly affect the fragile economies of the countries that are home to these precious few cousins. Virunga National Park revenue is expected to fall by 40%. The IUCN has called for two precautions to be strictly followed by
anyone who works with and around great apes: one is to maintain a
distance of at least 7 meters (23 feet), and ideally 10 meters (33
feet). The second is that no one who is clinically ill should visit the
apes. Even persons not having overt symptoms can be infected and spread the disease. Meanwhile, the gorillas are being monitored by their human custodians for signs of infection.
