(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Nine Great Apes Vaccine Against New Coronary Pneumonia

　　China News Agency, San Francisco, March 4-The San Diego Zoo, California, USA, said on the 4th local time that nine great apes had been vaccinated against the new crown.

　　The Associated Press reported that from January to February this year, four orangutans and five bonobos in the San Diego Zoo were vaccinated against the new crown.

Outside of humans, they are the first known primates to be injected with the new crown vaccine.

The zoo is also expected to vaccinate three bonobos and one gorilla.

　　In January of this year, eight western lowland gorillas in the zoo were infected with the new crown virus.

The virus may have originated from an employee of the zoo, although this person always wears a mask when in contact with gorillas.

　　"This makes us realize that other apes are also in danger," said Nadine Lambersky, the zoo's animal and plant health officer. "We want to do our best to protect them from the new coronavirus because we really don't know. What kind of effect this virus will have on them."

　　These great apes were vaccinated with an experimental new crown vaccine specially developed for animals, developed by Shuo Teng, a company that produces drugs for animals.

CBS reported that more than a year ago, Hong Kong first detected a dog that tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Subsequently, Shuo Teng began to develop a new crown vaccine for cats and dogs.

In October 2020, the vaccine was considered safe and effective, but testing was only conducted in cats and dogs.

Currently, the company is conducting vaccine trials for mink.

　　Lambersky believes that vaccinating great apes is worth the risk.

She told National Geographic that these great apes had no adverse reactions after being vaccinated.

They will be tested for antibodies soon to determine whether the vaccination is successful.

　　The Los Angeles Times reported that Pascal Ganex, a zoologist at the University of California, San Diego, also believed that this was the right choice.

He said that there are fewer than 200 bonobos in zoos around the world. This species has a very high similarity to human DNA, which highlights their risk of contracting the new coronavirus.

　　A Shuo Teng company spokesperson said that other US zoos are also trying to obtain this vaccine for great apes.

The company expects to provide more vaccines in June.

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