There have been numerous reports of howler monkeys poisoned in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul due to misinformation regarding the monkeys and the yellow fever virus. Some locals believed that the monkeys, which also suffer from yellow fever, were in fact the disease-carriers, but yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes not monkeys.
A new campaign headed by Dr. Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques wants to set the record straight. The campaign, entitled ‘Save Our Guardian Angels’, is working to inform the public of the actual and important role of howler monkeys in yellow fever outbreaks.
“Howler monkeys are more susceptible to the [yellow fever] virus and often die a few days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. The death of howlers alerts local health offices to the local spread of the virus in the region enabling the implementation of local vaccination campaigns. Far from being seen as a threat,” Bicca-Marques explains, “the Brazilian Ministry for Health considers these monkeys important ‘sentinels’ for the circulation of the virus. So howler monkeys are in fact our ‘Guardian Angels’! Their disappearance would mean our discovery of the arrival of yellow fever in a given region would ...