CHINA: The Monkey B Virus And Death Of The Veterinarian
CHINA: The Monkey B Virus And Death Of The Veterinarian
Monkey Virus Kills Veterinarian In China
A 53-year-old male vet doctor, who worked for an institution researching non-human primates, began exhibiting early symptoms of nausea and vomiting in April 2021. The vet died in May raising concerns amid the existing coronavirus pandemic COVID-19.
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What is the Monkey B virus?
The virus, initially isolated in 1932, is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca. B virus is the only identified old-world-monkey herpes virus that displays severe pathogenicity in humans.
How is it transmitted?
The infection can be transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions of monkeys and has a fatality rate of 70 per cent to 80 per cent.
However, the vet who died in China worked in a research institute that specialised in nonhuman primate breeding, the report from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said.
He dissected two dead monkeys in March. A month later he began to feel nauseous, was vomiting and had a fever. He died on May 27.
Blood and saliva samples were used to confirm the man was infected with the Monkey B virus.
The virus comes with a 70 to 80 per cent mortality rate in humans.
Close contacts of the man, a male doctor and a female nurse, both tested negative for the virus, officials said.
There has only been one known case where the Monkey B virus has been transmitted from human to human, in Florida in 1987.
Last week in Dallas, health officials reported a rare case of monkeypox in a traveller from Nigeria.
