A bacterium associated with humans would cause death …

Chimpanzee dies at Tacugama Sanctuary in Sierra Leone, which have raised concerns for a decade, they could be linked to a bacterium commonly present in the environment associated with gastrointestinal diseases in humans.

Since 2005, 59 of Tacugama’s 60 chimpanzees have died of epizootic neurological and gastroenteric syndrome (ENGS), a mysterious disease that worries specialists.

Faced with this scenario, the veterinarian and epidemiologist Tony goldberg He was alarmed when he learned that a particular infection was rapidly killing chimpanzees and began to investigate the matter.

“It was not a mild illness: the chimpanzees staggered and stumbled, vomited and had diarrhea.”recalled Goldberg, of the University of Wisconsin, USA, noting that “sometimes they would go to bed healthy and die in the morning”.

After years of research, Golberg and a team of scientists and veterinarians finally found the possible culprit: a newly discovered species of Sarcina, similar to Sarcina ventriculi, a type of bacteria commonly found in the environment and sometimes associated with disease. gastrointestinal tract in humans.

The results, published in Nature communications, suggest that some Sarcina species may be very virulent, but so far they have not been recognized. In humans, Sarcina ventriculi can thrive after surgery and produce gases that fill the walls of the intestine.

“There can be many different varieties of Sarcina that look similar but have acquired genetic properties that allow them to be more pathogenic,” said the lead author of the study, Leah Owens, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It can have repercussions on human and animal health”he added.

The Tacugama Refuge is home to nearly 100 chimpanzees rescued from illegal trade, hunting or as abandoned pets. “It was really maddening for the staff at the sanctuary because there was no end in sight,” said biologist Gregg Tully, executive director of the Pan African Alliance of Sanctuaries.

The Tacugama chimpanzees began contracting ENGS in 2005, although it took years for vets to realize that the animals they were losing had died from a common cause.

The syndrome manifests itself differently in different individuals, some with neurological signs such as incoordination and seizures, and others with gastrointestinal disturbances, or both. Some animals seem to recover, but eventually succumb weeks or months later, while others simply drop dead suddenly with almost no symptoms.