Source: https://www.livescience.com/leprosy-in-wild-chimpanzees
Leprosy identified in wild chimpanzees for the first time
By Mindy Weisberger about 8 hours ago
The disease was previously unknown in wild non-human primates.
Scientists have detected leprosy in wild chimpanzees for the first time, and the symptoms resemble those in infected people.
A team of researchers recently found leprosy-infected chimps in unconnected populations in two West African countries: Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast. Facial lesions in several of the animals looked like those in humans with advanced leprosy; genetic analysis of the chimps' stool samples confirmed that animals in both groups were carrying Mycobacterium leprae, bacteria that causes the disfiguring disease, according to a new study.
Not only are these cases the first to be detected in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) — leprosy in captive chimps has been reported previously — they are the first known non-human cases of leprosy in Africa...
Leprosy identified in wild chimpanzees for the first time
By Mindy Weisberger about 8 hours ago
The disease was previously unknown in wild non-human primates.
Scientists have detected leprosy in wild chimpanzees for the first time, and the symptoms resemble those in infected people.
A team of researchers recently found leprosy-infected chimps in unconnected populations in two West African countries: Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast. Facial lesions in several of the animals looked like those in humans with advanced leprosy; genetic analysis of the chimps' stool samples confirmed that animals in both groups were carrying Mycobacterium leprae, bacteria that causes the disfiguring disease, according to a new study.
Not only are these cases the first to be detected in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) — leprosy in captive chimps has been reported previously — they are the first known non-human cases of leprosy in Africa...
Comment