The Filarial Parasites of the Eastern Gorilla in the Congo

A survey for parasites has been undertaken in 20 mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) from the Eastern Congo Kivu province.Six full-grown (two males and four females), three adolescents (one male and two females), and eleven young gorillas were examined, some of them during several consecutive months. Nine autopsies were performed.No protozoa were discovered in the blood. Plasmodium parasites which are common in gorillas and chimpanzees from West Africa were never found in the Eastern Congo primates, including ten other gorillas examined previously and some fifty chimpanzees. Severe diarrhoea with a balantidiasis picture developed in two young gorillas. Autopsy revealed however an intensive infection with Oesophagostomum stephanostomum and resulting fatty degeneration of the liver. Oligotrichida belonging to the genus Troglodytella were commonly found in the intestinal tract. Oesophagostomum stephanostomum eggs were consistently present in the stools of the gorillas and autoinfection caused the death of several young gorillas 4 to 6 weeks after their capture.