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pti-PTI
Beijing, July 18: A Beijing-based veterinarian who was confirmed as the first case of human infection with the Monkey B virus (BV) in China has died, amid growing concerns, official media reported here.
The 53-year-old vet, who worked for a non-human primate research institution, showed early symptoms of nausea and vomiting, a month after dissecting two dead monkeys in early March, the state newspaper Global Times reported. . Saturday, citing the English platform of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vet had sought treatment at several hospitals and ultimately died on May 27, according to the report.
His close contacts are immune from it, for now, he added.
He said there had been no fatal or even clinically obvious BV infections in China before, so the vet’s case marks the first case of human infection with BV identified in China.
The researchers had collected the cerebrospinal fluid from the vet in April and identified it as positive for BV, but samples from his close contacts suggested negative results for the virus.
The virus, initially isolated in 1932, is an enzootic alphaherpesvirus in macaques of the genus Macaca. It can be transmitted by direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions and has a death rate of 70-80%.
The newspaper suggested that BV in monkeys could pose a potential threat to workers.
There is a need to eliminate BV during the development of specific rhesus colonies free of pathogens and to strengthen surveillance in laboratory macaques and workers in China, according to the report.
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