Gorillas are among our closest relatives, genetically speaking, and are highly susceptible to a number of human diseases. Some of these can be fatal and others may cause illness with severe consequences for normal behavior and reproduction.
Intestinal parasitic infections are among the most common human infections worldwide. Poverty, malnutrition, over-crowding, and poor hygiene all contribute to an increase in parasite loads. As the threat to people near protected areas grows, so does the threat to endangered gorillas.
Studies from the Central African Republic, for example, have shown that gorillas living near communities carry the same intestinal parasites as the local people. Gorillas living deep within the forest, however, had different patterns of parasitic infections. This strongly suggests that people living near gorillas are transmitting their parasitic infections to gorillas.
DFGFI believes that keeping the people who live close to gorilla habitats healthy is an important part of our conservation effort to protect endangered gorillas.
DFGFI in action
Our Ecosystem Health program is designed to create a safe and healthy environment for both people and gorillas.
Communities are retested after one year to determine whether additional treatment is needed and to evaluate the effectiveness of the health prevention activities.
Our Ecosystem Health Programs are serving communities located near protected areas in Rwanda (Volcanoes National Park) and Democratic Republic of Congo (Virunga National Park, Tayna Gorilla Reserve, community reserve in the Itombwe Massif). By the end of 2004, more than 7,200 people received treatment for parasitic infections.
In 2005, we plan to expand our reach to the ba'Twa villages both in Rwanda and DRC and to two more national parks in Rwanda, Nyungwe and Akagera. A generous donation by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of parasite treatments and medicines to treat other common illnesses will enable us to treat close to 100,000 people who live close to national parks and reserves. This will drastically reduce the potential of disease cross-transmission between people and gorillas.
The Ecosystem Health Program is under the supervision of Alecia Lilly, Ph.D., Director of DFGFI's Conservation Action Program. She has been conducting these kinds of studies in Africa since 1998. In Rwanda, the Ecosystem Health Program is managed by Ildephonse Munyarugero. In DRC, it is managed by Anny Muyisa, MD.
The Ecosystem Health Program is supported by USAID, USAID Central African Region for the Environment, Conservation International (CI), CI's Global Conservation Fund, and generous gifts from DFGFI members.
