Nine great apes received a Covid-19 experimental vaccine at the San Diego Zoo after an outbreak in a gorilla flock in January.
Five bonobos and four orangutans became the first great apes in an American zoo to receive injuries against the disease in January and February.
The animals received two doses of an experimental vaccine developed by the US veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis for use in animals. The vaccine can also be used on mink, cats and dogs, if there is regulatory approval.
Zoetis said the zoo made an emergency request for vaccines after eight members of the western lowland gorilla troop tested positive for Covid-19 in early 2021, with symptoms including cough, runny nose and lethargy.
Gorillas are believed to have contracted it from an asymptomatic keeper who tested positive for the virus. The zoo said employees wore masks all the time around gorillas. Since then, the troop has fully recovered and the public can visit the animals again after restrictions are lifted.
“It made us realize that our other monkeys were at risk,” Nadine Lamberski, director of wildlife conservation and health at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We wanted to do our best to protect them from this virus because we don’t really know how it is going to affect them.”
Dogs, cats and mink are among the animals tested positive for Covid during the pandemic, but scientists are especially concerned with the spread of the virus to large monkeys, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans.
The Guardian understands that the UK government has no plans to vaccinate primates in zoos and there have been no reports of Covid-19 infections. The London Zoo said the experimental vaccine was not available in the UK and added that its health team would investigate all means to protect its animals.
Amanda Guthrie, head of wildlife services at the Zoological Society of London, said: “Zoo keepers take strict precautions to ensure the safety of susceptible animals, including wearing masks and gloves when preparing their food and cleaning their enclosures.”
In March 2020, scientists warned that populations of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans could be wiped out during the coronavirus pandemic.