NdakasiBy Dr. Eddy

On April 13, Dr. Martin and I went to the Senkwekwe Centre at Virunga National Park headquarters for the orphans’ quarterly de-worming. Kaboko has had recurrent diarrhea, so Gorilla Doctors has decided to increase the number of de-worming (medicine used to treat internal parasites) treatments to four times per year. The use of Tinidazol and Pyrantel Pamoate will replace Ivermectin and Metronidazol, which have been used for a while, as drug resistance may have occurred. My assessments of the four orphans are below.

Ndakasi

 Ndakasi’s health is good and greatly improved compared to last year. She is gaining weight and has grown thick shiny black hair all over her body. Her stool is normal, and she is very active. She tested negative for worms.

Ndeze

Ndeze’s health is good and she’s the only gorilla who has had no major health problems. Her immune system looks stronger than the other gorillas. She tested negative for worms.

Maisha

On April 12, the caretakers reported that Maisha had pasty stool. On the morning of April 13 she defecated normal stool. Otherwise, her appetite was still normal and she was behaving normally. Some of Maisha’s hair is turning lighter but overall her health is good. She was alert and responsive and very active. She also tested negative for worms.

Kaboko

On the morning of April 13, caretakers reported that Kaboko had diarrhea. Kaboko has been having recurrent diarrhea since late last year. During his annual full exam in November, Kaboko was suspected to have Amaebiasis, most likely Galitsis. He was treated with Tinidazole, Ceftriaxone, and Ketoprofen (to fight some possible inflammation which may cause some intestinal wall irritation). Since then Kaboko has shown great improvement and he got diarrhea just twice including the last one, which occurred on April 13, while the previous one occurred in February. When I observed him he appeared to be eating and behaving normally. His fur is still thin and light colored however. His test results were negative.

I treated the four orphans with the de-worming medicine and left two more doses each with the caretakers. The caretakers also have instructions for how to treat Kaboko and the other orphans in case diarrhea recurs.

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