Wild Gorillas and Human Disease Spillover Risk

Mountain and eastern lowland gorillas are susceptible to human respiratory diseases — proactive veterinary monitoring and rapid response protects individual gorillas and population welfare.

Key Facts

Over 40% of mountain gorilla deaths involve respiratory disease
Veterinary teams can respond to sick gorilla groups within hours in Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC
Vaccines developed for human use have been adapted for gorilla vaccination programs
COVID-19 prompted pre-emptive gorilla vaccination programs in US zoos and monitoring in range states
The Gorilla Doctors program has treated hundreds of wild gorillas with measurable population benefit

Welfare Considerations

Wild gorillas treated by the Gorilla Doctors program have better survival outcomes than untreated individuals. Veterinary intervention in respiratory outbreaks, wound treatment, and snare removal have saved lives that would otherwise have been lost. The welfare value of this program is both direct — treating individuals in pain — and population-level, maintaining family group integrity by saving individuals whose deaths would disrupt dependent offspring and social structure. Proactive veterinary monitoring enables early response before disease becomes epidemic in small groups.

What You Can Do

Donate to Gorilla Doctors and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project programs
Maintain strict health protocols when visiting gorillas — never visit if symptomatic
Support community conservation programs in gorilla range that reduce human-gorilla contact risk
Advocate for veterinary program funding as a core component of gorilla conservation
Follow gorilla health news and share significant developments with your network