Loris and potto care: measures necessary for protection of humans (keepers)

Lorises have got strong jaw muscles and pointed teeth with cutting edges easily piercing human skin or thin gloves. Handling with its stress for the animal and danger for humans can often be avoided by catching animals with a cage in connection with some live insects as a reward. Health problems after slow loris bites may be either due to presence of a toxin produced by the animals, due to bacteria and viruses transferred by bites (N. Rowe, pers. comm.) or due to an anaphylactic shock (extreme allergic reaction) ⁷⁸. Severe health problems and occasional deaths of humans from slow loris venom have been reported ⁷⁸.

Loris brachial gland secretion includes two toxins, made inactive by inhibitors; if mixed with saliva, for instance after licking of the brachial glands, the enzymes from the saliva break down the inhibitors and make the saliva-secretion mixture toxic (⁷⁶, ⁷⁷, N. Rowe, pers. comm.).

Dentition of a slender loris. Lorises have powerful jaw muscles and teeth with sharp edges, and since they are shy, excitable animals, unforeseen bites are always possible. Lorises should not be kept as domestic pets, particularly in families with children! In zoos, handling should be done by skilled animal keepers wearing gloves or, less stressful, by training and use of cage traps instead of seizing the animals - after taming, lorises soon learn to enter such a cage for a reward.

Loris bites are painful and often heal slowly because of bacterial flora on the teeth; severe disease and death of humans due to the effect of a poison produced in loris or potto skin glands have been reported. Photos: courtesy of Helena Fitch-Snyder.

Anaphylactic shock: in people regularly in contact with slow lorises, saliva may repeatedly come into the body through tiny, maybe invisible wounds. If the loris keeper develops an allergy against this saliva, an allergic shock is possible (independant from the quantity of substance causing it, within seconds to minutes, in one case described lasting two hours), although this is a rare disease. Symptoms of anaphylactic shock may be: initially burning tongue and throat, a sensation of heat, red, itching skin, wheals, very low blood pressure, shock, convulsions of muscles (pain), pain in the heart and kidney region, respiratory problems (constriction of airways), heart problems, and possibly unconsciousness. Occurrence would make an immediate call for medicinal help necessary; first aid: measures against shock such as lying posture with legs a bit higher, assuring sufficient blood supply for necessary organs. Cases described: ⁷⁸, ⁸⁵, additional information about anaphylactic shock: ⁵, ¹¹⁰.

For protection of veterinarians, coworkers of zoos and rescue stations the following possiblities should be considered:

Use of protective gloves when handling lorises. Stiff, thick leather gloves do not allow cautious handling; instead in some facilities stainless steel metal mesh gloves are used, which are available as protective equipment for butchers or veterinarians (Prof. Rumpler, Strasboug University, pers. comm.), see for instance PerfectFit metal mesh glove page. Such gloves are more flexible than stiff thick leather gloves and protect against cut, slash and laceration hazards; additional safety may be provided by protection of the arm with metal mesh sleeves. Helena Fitch-Snyder recommends custom-made elbow length elk leather gloves (double thickness around the fingers) as thick enough to protect against bites even by large N. bengalensis, but more lightweight than metal gloves and still flexible enough.
People threatened by anaphylactic shock, for instance suffering from a bee sting allergy, may keep an emergency kit within reach with contains adrenalin, cortisone and antihistamine. Cortison and antihistamine are also said to help reduce symptoms for instance after certain snake bites ¹¹¹. Acquisition and use of such an emergency kit or other prophylactic measures should be based on consultation of a health professional.
Besides reducing the risk of dangerous allergic reactions, proper first aid after a bite should consider possible infections due to bacteria and viruses in the saliva, which are common (Helena Fitch-Snyder, pers. comm.)

Freshly imported or confiscated animals may have been in contact with some infectious agent. Vaccination against tetanus after a bite is certainly useful. One of the most terrible diseases which may be transferred by bites is rabies. No reports about lorises or pottos infected with rabies have been found so far, but according to the rabies website of the Louis Pasteur Institute (of 2000), rabies occurs both in Africa and Asia. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are mentioned as countries with decreased infection rate because of national plans for rabies prevention, but in other Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Laos precarious situations are said to persist. Dogs are the most important vectors for this disease ¹⁰⁶, so there might be a risk that animals offered on local markets might have come into contact with an infected dog. For immediate measures after a bite see website about risks from animal bites during fieldwork by Dr. Jane Wilson Howarth ¹⁰⁵, http://www.psgb.org/PrimateEye/AnimalBiteRisks.html; more information might be found in her book:
Wilson Howarth, J. 1999: Bugs, Bites and Bowels: the Cadogan guide to Healthy Travel. ISBN: 186011914X.