Human virus threatens mountain gorillas

NAIROBI, Kenya: A new study has found that a deadly virus that causes respiratory disease in humans can be passed on to the mountain gorillas endangered in Central Africa.

Researchers who have spent time in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda said they found traces of human Metapneumovirus in the post-mortem examinations of two gorillas who died in 2009. Both were in a group of 12 infected with a respiratory illness.

The study by researchers from different institutions, including Columbia University and the University of California, was published Tuesday in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are only 786 mountain gorillas in the wild. They live in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.