Bonobos at the Cincinnati Zoo Contract Respiratory Virus After Visitors Threw Food Into Enclosure

Summary:

Cincinnati, OH – A group of bonobos at the Cincinnati Zoo have contracted a virus. In a Facebook post, the Cincinnati Zoo said their bonobo troop contracted human metapneumovirus (HMPV). Dr. Mike Wenninger, the zoo’s director of animal health, says one of the bonobos showed signs of sickness and then they saw it spread: “Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had multiple individuals at a time just showing respiratory symptoms, so in general, they’ve presented with puffing, sneezing, lethargy, kind of a feeling like a person had to flu,” explained Dr. Wenninger.

The zoo’s Facebook post did not say how the bonobos contracted HMPV, but it did happen after reports of people throwing food into their habitat. “While it’s impossible to identify the point of exposure, the outbreak comes a week after multiple reports of food being thrown into their outdoor habitat,” the Cincinnati Zoo explained. “It is best practice to avoid throwing or dropping items into habitats, especially those of great apes. Viruses like RSV and HMPV may not produce symptoms in adult humans so it’s possible to pass them along without realizing you’re sick.”

The virus impacting the troop is in the same family as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which the zoo said caused 3-year-old bonobo Amali’s death in November 2023.

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