Brown Howler Fever Essay

Brown howler monkeys are at high risk of acquiring yellow fever and a widespread outbreak can cause extinctions of local populations. There have been hundreds of brown howler monkeys that have died at the RPPN-FMA reserve because of this disease. Also at this reserve are yellow muriqui monkeys which are critically endangered but they aren’t as susceptible to yellow fever compared to the howler monkeys. The yellow fever originated from the mosquitos and has spread all over Brazil, eliminating populations of the brown howler monkey in the thousands, particularly in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo in Brazil. An area that has been devastated by yellow fever is a government protected reserve known as RPPN Feliciana Miguel Abdala (RPPN-FMA), in Caratinga,

Minas Gerais. Karen Strier who is an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an associate conservation scientist at the Global Wildlife Conservation has studied these monkeys at RPPN-FMA since 1983. She came to the reserve in early 2017 and discovered that a large number of howler monkeys vanished. Strier recalls the forests being silent in areas where howler monkeys would be found. She heard about the yellow fever outbreak but she didn’t realize how bad it was. An outbreak can make local populations go extinct, particularly if the remaining populations are so small and can’t recover. The RPPN-FMA reserve had 500 brown howler monkeys in the forest in 2003. A very small portion of those monkeys are still alive. Sergio Mendes, a professor of animal biology at the Federal University of Espirito Santo was shocked at how quickly the disease is spreading. Mendes said that he is surprised at how the virus is capable of spreading from patch to patch of forest even if they are far apart. The probable explanation for this is that contaminated mosquitos are going from one forest to another, blown away by the wind. The other theory is that humans are spreading the virus between forests that are far apart. Humans usually don’t show symptoms for yellow ever, but the virus will be in their blood for several days. If someone is contaminated and they are traveling from forest to forest, and a mosquito bites them, the mosquito can transmit the virus in another area.

Humans also involuntarily carry infected mosquitoes in their luggage and cars. Strier stressed that people must understand that monkeys aren’t the ones to blame for the spread of yellow fever and that her colleagues are making sure this message gets across. Strier and Mendes have concerns for another primate, the muriqui which is known as a “hippie” because of its relaxed lifestyle. It is critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and the RPPN-FMS reserve has 340 of the northern muriqui, which is 1/3 of the entire population. Thankfully they are not as prone to the disease as howler monkeys. The howler monkeys are being wiped out and thus the northern muriqui have less competitors in their forest. There may be more food available for them to eat. However, it could have adverse effects because the forest can change dramatically without the howler monkeys. The most recent outbreak has been the worst one in years. Over 320 people have been infected with yellow fever and there have been about 220 deaths. Humans need to be vaccinated to stop death from yellow fever. There is no vaccine for the monkeys

however.
It is quite frightening how fast the yellow virus is spreading amongst the howler monkeys. I hope it does not lead to a widespread extinction of this species. It is optimistic to hear that the northern muriqui are not as susceptible to the disease, but considering they are already critically endangered there is still much to be concerned about. I pray that they will find a vaccine for the non-human primates so that way howler monkeys will not continue to be wiped out by this disease.