Nine monkeys who died in Hong Kong's oldest zoo over a period of two days this week had been infected with an endemic disease, possibly after some digging work near their cages, officials said Friday. Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said in a press briefing that the animals in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens contracted melioidosis and the disease later caused them to develop sepsis, the AP reports. Melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is widespread in soils and muddy water.
Yeung said the park conducted digging work to repair some irrigation pipes under the flower bed near the monkey cages in early October and that the monkeys might have come into contact with the bacteria after the park's staff walked into their cages with possibly contaminated shoes. "The incubation period for melioidosis in primates is about a week and this matched with the period after the soil digging work," he said. Yeung stressed that such infections typically occur through contact with contaminated soil and water and that there is generally no danger to humans from contact with infected animals or people.
Eight monkeys were found dead on Sunday, and another died Monday after displaying unusual behavior. The deceased animals were a De Brazza's monkey, a common squirrel monkey, four white-faced sakis, and three cotton-top tamarins—a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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