ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A bacterial outbreak in Albuquerque between May 2021 and November 2023 that spread among people and primates from the ABQ BioPark Zoo, came from the same source, according to newly published research.
The illness that plagued the community was determined to be shigella, a highly contagious gastrointestinal infection that is spread through the fecal-oral route and can be contracted by drinking contaminated food or water or coming into contact with someone who is sick or recently infected with shigellosis.
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The shigella outbreak left one person dead, and nearly 70% of people with the infection were hospitalized, according to the research article. The infection spread into the zoo, resulting in the death of six primates and leaving others infected.
Upon learning of the outbreak, BioPark and NMDOH staff worked together to address the spread among both populations. Researchers were able to learn more about the outbreak, how it spread, and where it may have come from.
The research team started by analyzing gene sequence samples from infected humans and primates.
“In looking at the genomes between human cases and the primate cases, we were able to see that in that there were zero differences. So there is no way that happens by chance. That means that they were the same strain of Shigella that was circulating in the zoo and in the human population,” said Sarah Shrum Davis, emerging infections program foodnet coordinator for the UNM Office of Community Health, and an NMDOH enteric team lead.
Based on the data, Shrum Davis, and researchers were able to conclude the Shigella outbreak came from the same source, was introduced around February 2021, and possibly came from Texas. “
“So bacteria evolve at a certain rate, and so Shigella evolves at a rate of about three mutations per year. We were able to look at the genetic sequences of our Shigella bacteria, and the closest strain that matched them did occur in Texas. And so by doing it by looking at the evolutionary rate of the bacteria, this is called a molecular clock, we were able to backtrace about when we think it was introduced into New Mexico,” she explained.
According to Shrum Davis, cases of Shigella are reported year-round across the state of New Mexico. But what caught health officials’ attention was the sharp uptick in cases in the Albuquerque area in both humans and primates around May 2021.
NMDOH began investigating and alerted doctors that the strain was resistant to the first line of antibiotics that are used for treatment, and that they should potentially try and use other drugs to treat patients in this area. The City of Albuquerque also set up portable hand-washing stations to prevent the spread, Shrum Davis said.
As for the ABQ BioPark, it had temporarily closed the Ape Walk while it provided medicine and care to its primates, including orangutans, siamangs, and gorillas.
Unfortunately, some of the treatments did not work. “I was disappointed and heartbroken when some of our animals were not getting better as quickly as I had hoped,” Carol Bradford, the senior veterinarian at the ABQ BioPark Zoo, said in an interview with UNM Health Sciences. “Even though they were treated with appropriate antibiotics, the antibiotics didn’t seem to make them feel better very quickly.”
Bradford said there were 13 animals that were affected by the illness over the course of several weeks. “What we do not think happened, and we want to be really clear about this, is that we don’t think that there is any intentional exposure, and we don’t think that, you know, anybody sort of had like contact with animals that they shouldn’t have or anything like that. No keepers were sick,” said Shrum Davis.
Researchers still do not know how the bacteria spread to the primates, but they do have a guess.
“Our leading hypotheses are that, you know, somebody who, you know, had the Shigella bacteria on their hands threw something into the primate areas and contaminated that way. We also do wonder about the potential of things like house flies bringing it in. Although the zoo does trap for flies, you know, at a certain point, there’s only so much you can do,” Shrum Davis explained.
The ABQ BioPark Zoo does have signs warning visitors not to throw food or other items into enclosures.
To view the published research article, click here.
