Summary: | Yellow Fever (YF) is an acute infectious disease. In Brazil, the incidence of YF is seasonal, and frequently occurs between December and April when environmental factors lead to an increase in the abundance of vectors. Several reports about primate mortality due to YF, especially those of the genus Alouatta, have been made, but there is little information that verifies and quantifies how damaging this kind of event is to primate populations. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a YF outbreak, which occurred in 2008 and 2009, on primate populations in protected areas (PA) in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. The presence of primate species and the occurrence of the outbreak were recorded through direct observation and interviews. We visited 11 PA and made 52 interviews. The presence of Sapajus nigritus and Alouatta caraya was verified in three PA each, and A. guariba in four, while primate populations were absent in three PA. Espigão Alto State Park was the only PA severely impacted by the YF outbreak; however, there were reports of primate deaths during the outbreak in the buffer zones or immediate surroundings of five other PA.
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