Disease

Fun fact: Did you know that Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives? In fact, we shared a common ape-like ancestor that traversed our Earth 13 million years ago!

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) had caused a great stir among Chimpanzee lovers in late 2002, where the outbreak of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever in humans was reported to coincide with a widespread death of Chimpanzees in the North of the Republic Congo. The high mortality rate of Chimpanzees was of no wonder, as the 98.8% genetic similarity between humans and the Chimpanzees allow for a high rate of zoonotic disease transmission. In other words, viruses like the Ebola Virus Disease can be easily transmitted between us and the Chimpanzees! With areas infected by EVD coinciding with 14% of Chimpanzee’s habitats, large numbers of Chimpanzees are still faced with the danger of getting infected by the virus today. In addition, with the swift transmission of viruses between individuals, Chimpanzees could succumb to the virus within a short duration of weeks to months.