Tshiaberimu

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 23 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Please find below a message from Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO, Conservation Through Public Health (www.ctph.org).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I just returned from a trip to Mount Tshiaberimu to check on the health of the gorillas. This was particularly important because two adult female gorillas died in the space of 3 months, in February and May 2008, of suspected disease, leaving the fragile Mount Tshiaberimu gorilla population with only three adult breeding females.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Post mortems conducted by Dr. Joseph Mavisi, the local Congolese veterinarian initially indicated a large parasite burden of tape worms. However post-mortem samples from the second female, Molo, indicated Shigella bacteria in the fecal sample and a bacteremia on tissue sample analysis. Shigella bacteria has been seen before in both normal and abnormal gorilla fecal samples in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Shigella is also considered to be one of the causes of dysentery in Ugandan human populations and possibly communities surrounding the park. Therefore the diagnosis of bacteremia could be due to Shigella or any other bacteria.                                                                                                                                                         My trip to Mount Tshiaberimu on request of the Gorilla Organization, who set up the Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation Project in 1996 in collaboration with the ICCN, was to do another health check on the gorilla groups, especially as blood was seen on the dung of Kitawite, one of the three remaining adult females in Kipura group. We traveled with Mount Tshiaberimu project director, Jean Claude Kyungu, Dr. Mavisi and CTPH Founders, Steven Rubanga (Chief Veterinary Technician) and Lawrence Zikusoka (Director of ICT for Development).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                On arrival in Mount Tshiaberimu we found two other gorillas in the Lusenge group, one silverback and one adult female, that had also been seen with blood on their dung a couple of days previously. A visual health check indicated that these two gorillas were clinically healthy and their dung was well formed with no blood or mucus. Also on arrival, the park staff reported that Kitawite, the adult female gorilla, was looking healthy, behaving normally and had a normal looking appearance. We examined fecal samples from the night nests of Kitawite and the rest of her group, which showed normal formed gorilla dung with no blood or mucus. Though the gorillas appear to be clinically healthy, the Mount Tshiaberimu staff are rigorously monitoring them for any further clinical signs.                                                                                                                                                                                          In the meantime there is a very urgent need to get medication to treat any further infections, and prevent further gorilla deaths. We would only treat the gorillas if it was absolutely necessary but it is important to have the right equipment to hand just in case. We therefore need to obtain long acting broad spectrum antibiotics effective against Shigella and most other bacteria, such as Ceftiofur, fortunately found in USA. We also need funds for darting equipment and proper necropsy kits for the attendant veterinarian, Dr. Mavisi and funds for training the veterinarian and support staff at Mount Tshiaberimu in gorilla health monitoring and emergency veterinary procedures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         There is a possibility that the source of infection in these gorillas could have come from the surrounding local population, who have inadequate health care and ill equipped health centres, putting the gorillas at risk when they leave the park. Therefore there is a great need to identify common causes of intestinal infection, especially those causing dysentery as well as other diseases in people and livestock bordering the park, and find ways of reducing the prevalence of infection by assisting the health and veterinary centres with appropriate equipment and resources and intense community education campaigns.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Finally there is a great need for good radio communication equipment; it was extremely difficult to track the Kipura group because they were fighting with Kanindo, a silverback who recently acquired a female. The advance team were not able to communicate effectively with our group, and we eventually were not able to that gorilla group before dark.