Ireland: San Diego zoo primates vaccinated against Covid-19

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Last January, gorillas at the San Diego zoo tested positive for the coronavirus. Monkeys are today the first primates to receive this experimental vaccine, made especially for animals.

On January 11, 2021, gorillas at the San Diego Zoo in California tested positive for Covid-19 . "Apart from a slight congestion and cough, the gorillas are doing well," staff assured in an release. Probably contaminated by an asymptomatic healer but also tested positive for the coronavirus, the primates were cured without any specific treatment being administered. "They are wild animals, they have their own resistance and can heal differently from us," said Lisa Peterson, executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

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This was the first known case of transmission of the virus to great apes. A not so surprising situation, the gorilla sharing 98.4% of our genetic heritage. A percentage that makes it all the more vulnerable to human diseases.

The first non-human primates to receive the vaccine against the Covid-19

A few weeks after the contamination of the great apes, the Zoo Safari Park indicated on Twitter that some of their residents had received an injection of a vaccine against the Covid -19, specially developed for animals. They are the first non-human primates to receive the vaccine.

Great news! Our gorilla troop has made a full recovery from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. Starting today, our guests can once again connect with these primates and learn ways they can help save this important species. https://t.co/phlrubBPhr pic.twitter.com/Gpjdxy8UAY

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- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (@sdzsafaripark) February 13, 2021

At the moment, five bonobos and four orangutans have received each two doses of the vaccine, produced by the international animal health company Zoetis. Among the beneficiaries, the zoo has chosen to give priority to Karen, a female orangutan suffering from co-morbidities. In fact, in 1994, she became the first non-human primate to undergo open heart surgery.

A feared transmission of the virus

If the great apes of the San Diego Zoo tested positive in January are now cured , "it is not known whether the primates can develop serious reactions", had at the time underlined the Zoo in his press release. The long-term sequelae of such a disease are also unknown.

Considered an endangered species, the gorilla has seen its population decline sharply in recent decades. Among the reasons mentioned, poaching, the destruction of its habitat, but also diseases. In Africa, chimpanzees and gorillas have already been strongly impacted by the Ebola virus .

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