Yellow Fever Outbreak Is Killing off Rare Monkeys in Brazil

01/30/2017 - 16h08

The Yellow Fever outbreak that had infected at least 101 people in the country as of Friday (27) has also hit hundreds of monkeys, including endangered species.

Since December of last year, the Ministry of Health has recorded the deaths of 796 primates in 276 epizootics -the name refers to diseases that attack animals.

An epizootic record can refer to more than one individual.

Of the 276 incidents, 92 were confirmed to be the result of Yellow Fever, the majority located in the state of Minas Gerais (68), with the rest in Espírito Santo (17) and São Paulo (7).

The number is almost double the number recorded from July 2014 to December 2016, when the virus led to 49 epizootics.

The actual situation, however, is much more serious than the official records are letting on, says Sérgio Lucena, a researcher at the Federal University of Espírito Santo who is responsible for the identification of primates who die during an outbreak. He estimates that the death toll is in the thousands.

"The situation is very alarming. I have been in the field for over 30 years and I never imagined that we would see anything like this," he said.

The monkeys tend to be the first to be infected by the Yellow Fever virus and, that is why they are known as a sentinel species. In other words: they draw attention to the circulation of the virus in an area.

Therefore, when an abnormal number of monkeys starts to die off, health organizations are alerted to increase vaccinations.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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