In a bid to save wild apes from extinction, people may be unwittingly infecting them with potentially deadly diseases, new research shows.

Humans and great apes are closely related, creating the potential for diseases to jump between them. Isolated incidents have been documented of apes and monkeys contracting measles, pneumonia, and influenza from people, as well as a range of other bacteria, viruses and parasites. But the problem may be greater than even that, as highlighted by five recently published academic studies.

The close contact between animals and humans in research centres and sanctuaries is facilitating the spread of pathogens to apes, say scientists.