An ongoing outbreak of yellow fever in Colombia is sickening and killing rare and threatened monkey species in captivity, a new study shows. Between February and May 2025, authorities reported eight deaths among four monkey species in southern Colombia’s Putumayo department, researchers note. Six of the individuals were in captivity: one white-fronted capuchin (Cebus albifrons), four black-faced spider monkeys (Ateles fusciceps), a species classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, and a common woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha), listed as vulnerable. Two wild night monkeys (Aotus spp.) were found dead near the rural area of Vereda El Naranjito, close to one of the captive facilities. Clinical signs of yellow fever among the monkeys included lethargy, fever, jaundice, muscle weakness, foamy nasal discharge, and general poor body condition. Yellow fever is an infectious viral disease that spreads via mosquitoes. It’s thought to have originated in the tropical forested regions of Africa, then arrived in the Americas during the 1500s with the slave trade, after which it became endemic in the Amazonian forests. South America has been experiencing a resurgence of yellow fever outbreak since 2024, with 326 confirmed human cases and 136 deaths reported across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Peru as of Aug. 14 this year. Colombia’s Putumayo, a rainforest region bordering Ecuador and Peru, has historically been a hotspot for yellow fever transmission, but recent human cases reflect a spread beyond typical Amazonian regions into more populated areas, the study authors write. Previously, most reported cases of yellow…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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