An update on great ape population health, disease control and outbreak response

Since publication of the 2015 Great Ape Health Guidelines, great ape tourism has continued to gain in popularity, and landscape conversion continues on a steep trajectory. In addition, there has been a tremendous amount of new scientific research on pathogens that infect wild great apes. Furthermore, the world experienced epidemics of Ebola (in West Africa from 2014–2016 and in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2018–2020) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023). The purpose of this Supplement is to provide protected area authorities charged with the conservation of great ape populations, and other stakeholders working in great ape habitats, with new and additional content to the 2015 Great Ape Health Guidelines, based on new papers published through 2022, with a specific focus on: an update on health issues of concern in great ape populations, new technologies, tools and approaches for surveillance and diagnosis of infectious diseases in great apes, and great ape disease prevention.