The troop of chimpanzees at a South Australian zoo that contracted a virus commonly seen in human children probably got it from a tissue that blew into their enclosure, the head of Zoos SA says.
The Monarto Safari Park last week announced that its chimpanzee enclosure would be closed after the animals caught respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a virus that is most serious for babies under one-year-old.
Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted said it was unlikely the chimps caught RSV from a keeper, as they wore masks and gloves when they prepared food for the apes, since they were also at risk of catching COVID-19.
"So it's probably something like that but [it's] unlikely whether we'll really be able to determine what that was but it would have been from a human."
The chimps are drinking tea with honey and lemon — sometimes containing paracetamol — along with home-made soup in cups.
RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants under one.
The virus is spread through droplets when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes.
The virus can live outside of the body for a few hours but is easily killed by soap and water or disinfectant.
The symptoms of RSV include fever, runny nose, a cough and wheezing.
RSV infections in people have risen across Australia recently, after a lull during the first couple of years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SA Health was notified about 231 RSV cases in the state last week.
Since October 7 last year — when the virus became notifiable — there have been 862 cases of RSV.
Chimpanzees' health improving
Ms Bensted said zoo vet Oliver Funnell had reported "varied" improvements in the chimpanzees' health over the weekend.
"They're generally improving," she said.
"Enzi, who was, we think, our very first case and he's our youngster, he's bounced back and he's back to his cheeky self. He's eating well, almost back to normal.
"Sotsi, our older male who we were very worried about towards the end of last week, he's made steady improvements over the weekend and his appetite is coming back.
"And our third chimp who we were watching carefully is one of our older females, Galatea, she's again improved but still being watched.
"And then the others are all sort of in a spectrum — some with hardly any symptoms, some just with snotty noses, so I guess just if there was a group of humans recovering at different stages."
Ms Bensted said it was hoped the exhibit would open later this week.
