#Coronavirus could threaten endangered great apes, scientists warn - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/03/25/coronavirus-wildlife-apes/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-hse%3Ahomepage%2Fcard-ans&itid=hp_hp-cards
Now primate scientists say they fear that the virus could pose a mortal threat to our closest living relatives — chimpanzees, gorillas and other great apes.
There is no evidence yet of great apes, all species of which are endangered, becoming infected with the #virus that causes covid-19 in humans. But in a letter published Wednesday in Nature, 25 disease researchers, conservationists and other experts note the primates are susceptible to human respiratory diseases, sometimes fatally. Viruses, some of which have been traced to humans and cause just mild symptoms in people, have sickened and killed apes in several African countries.