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HORRIFIC VENEREAL DISEASE STRIKES AFRICAN BABOONS
By Jenny Hogan
New Scientist
May 2, 2003

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993694

A horrific venereal disease is preying on baboons in eastern Africa. An
estimated 200 animals have been infected and scientists are scrambling to
identify the mystery microbe that is attacking them.

The disease targets the reproductive organs of the primate.  The
consequences for male baboons are particularly gruesome, says Elibariki
Mtui, of the African Wildlife Foundation in Arusha, Tanzania. "The genitals
kind of rot away, then they just drop off," he told New Scientist .

The disease first appeared a month ago and while cases seem to be confined
to Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania, there are fears it will spread
from the affected troops of olive baboons to others nearby. "People are
really concerned that it could be an epidemic," says Mtui. Wardens at the
park confirm that some of the infected males had died.

"If it's sexually transmitted then it could spread," agrees Dee Carey, head
veterinarian at the Southwest National Primate Research Centre in San
Antonio, Texas. Baboons live in troops of up to 100 animals and although the
females stay put within each "family", the males wander between them. But
with so little information on the disease, says Carey, it is difficult to
evaluate the risks.

Herpes-like lesions

The Wildlife Research Institute (WRI) in Tanzania has sent scientists to
Lake Manyara to monitor the baboons and take samples from infected animals
so that the virus or bacterium causing the disease can be identified. They
are working in cooperation with the Institute of Primate research in
neighbouring Kenya.

In a statement, the WRI says: "We are worried, but have the capacity to
identify the disease because of our experience after decades of research on
primates."

Venereal diseases are not unknown in baboons. In the captive colony of 4000
cared for by Carey, they occasionally see genital lesions caused by a
herpes-like virus. These lesions can become infected but no animals have
ever died.

"But then, we treat the animals," says Carey. He speculates that the baboon
deaths in Tanzania may have been caused not by the venereal disease, but by
subsequent infection.

This is one possibility that scientists in Tanzania will need to consider.
But locals may be unwilling to back medical treatments for the sickly olive
baboons because the animals are considered pests who steal food.