Gorilla undergoes surgery for possible human disease

Dec 4, 2010 3:18pm

(NECN/KTVU) - A female gorilla at the San Francisco Zoo is recovering after a -- unique -- medical procedure.
This gorilla has undergone a special kind of surgery, and a local doctor is helping to diagnose what appears to be a human disease.

At the gorilla enclosure, dominant silverback Oscar Jonesy watched intently, as technicians anesthetized his sister, 29-year-old Zura, and took her to the zoo hospital.

"She's like my baby, sort of, one of my babies, and she's at the hospital, and so I'm a little nervous," said gorilla keeper Kathy Edwards.

Gorillas are vulnerable to human disease, so the rest of us wear masks.

"She has had chronic medical problems with her gastrointestinal tract, mainly diarrhea, constipation, bloat," said zoo veterinarian Dr. Graham Crawford.

Unlike the other gorillas, zura will eat cups, purses, and even cell phones dropped within her reach.

"She's had some GI issues," said zoo primate curator Corinne MacDonald, "and we're wondering whether or not it is because of that, or is there something else going on."

As with any other patient, doctors needed to get a closer look, and so this first of its kind here procedure called a capsule endoscopy, in which a tiny video camera is actually inserted into Zura's intestines.

"We think that probably she has Crohn's disease based on a lot of serological markers, blood tests that we've taken on her," said gastroenterologist Dr. David Shields.

Gorillas carry the gene for Crohn's, a sometimes fatal autoimmune disease. powerful drugs can treat it.

"All these drugs have risks," said Shields. "Unless we're sure that this is the case with her, we'd like not to treat her."

Results from the implanted camera should be available in a few days. Zoo veterinarians will then decide what to do.

Tags: Surgery, gorilla , drugs, human disease, Zura, Crohn's disease, risks, San Francisco zoo

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