Now two gorillas suspected of milk-powder poisoning

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two gorillas are suspected of becoming the latest victims of China's tainted milk-powder health scandal, showing the early signs of kidney stones, local media reported on Thursday.

The gorillas, both from Hangzhou Wildlife World in eastern Zhejiang province and aged one and three, had been diagnosed with crystallization in their urine, according to a report on the website of the Hangzhou newspaper ( www.hangzhou.com.cn).

Both had been fed with milk powder made by Sanlu Group, at the heart of the scandal in which four infants have died and thousands have fallen sick with kidney stones.

The company has said the infants became sick after drinking milk contaminated by melamine, a compound used in making plastics and added to cheat nutrition tests.

"The crystallization now is very small, but it will grow bigger and then block the urine," Zhang Xu, a doctor from the animal hospital where the two gorillas were being treated, was quoted as saying.

"No visible stones have been found so far," Zhang added.

Kidney stones are small, solid masses that form when salts or minerals normally found in urine crystallize inside the kidney.

If they become large enough, they can move out of the kidney, cause infection and lead to permanent kidney damage.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sanjeev Miglani)