Hello and welcome to the details of Monkey deaths at Hong Kong zoo: Authorities say soil infection killed them, as 11th dies and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - (From left) A combination picture shows a De Brazza’s monkey and a white-faced saki. Housed in five separate cages, the deceased monkeys included the De Brazza species as well as one common squirrel monkey, cotton-top tamarins and white-faced sakis. — Screencaps from Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
HONG KONG, Oct 22 — Melioidosis, a bacterial infection, was responsible for killing at least nine monkeys at a Hong Kong zoo, authorities said, as a further two died over the weekend, taking the total to 11 in the past week.
Part of the zoo, built in 1860 and the oldest park in Hong Kong, has remained shut since October 14 when authorities reported the first batch of monkey deaths.
Housed in five separate cages, the deceased monkeys included the De Brazza species as well as one common squirrel monkey, cotton-top tamarins and white-faced sakis.
Authorities said nine monkeys died of sepsis after catching melioidosis. Autopsies found a large amount of the melioidosis-inducing bacteria in the monkeys organs, which likely came from soil near the monkeys habitat, they said.
Further tests are needed to determine the cause of death of the latest two monkeys.
Kevin Yeung, the city’s culture and tourism minister, told local broadcaster RTHK that works at the zoo required digging up the soil near where the monkeys lived.
Workers were then believed to have brought contaminated soil into the cage through their shoes, he said.
“We have cordoned off the whole mammals section for the time being, so there will be no sort of contact between normal citizens with the animals,” he said.
The bacteria is particularly common in moist clay soil. Even though it can affect both humans and animals, it is unlikely to be passed from animals to humans, authorities said.
The zoo, located just above the city’s financial centre and near government house, houses around 158 birds, 70 mammals and 21 reptiles in about 40 enclosures. — Reuters
These were the details of the news Monkey deaths at Hong Kong zoo: Authorities say soil infection killed them, as 11th dies for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
