[ad_1]
- A Beijing-based primate researcher has died of the rare “Monkey B” virus.
- The man, 53, dissected two primates in March and fell ill a month later.
- The Chinese CDC said he died on May 27 after experiencing nausea, vomiting and fever.
- Visit the Insider homepage for more stories.
A Beijing veterinarian has become the first documented human death in China from the Monkey B virus, a rare and potentially fatal disease contracted by primates such as macaque monkeys.
The Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report on Saturday that the man, 53, was working in a lab that was doing experimental research on breeding non-human primates.
The Chinese CDC added that the researcher, who remains anonymous, dissected two monkeys that died on March 4 and 6 this year.
After dissecting the monkeys, the man began to experience symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fever, before dying on May 27.
Lab tests performed by the Chinese CDC confirmed that he had contracted the Monkey B virus, also known as “herpes B”.
In its report, the Chinese CDC acknowledged that the Monkey B virus could “pose a potential zoonotic threat to workers,” meaning it could be transferred from animals to humans. He also noted that more needed to be done to “strengthen surveillance of laboratory macaques and workers in China.”
Although the Monkey B virus can be transmissible from primate to primate, humans have little to worry about when it comes to person-to-person transmission.
The Washington Post spoke with Nikolaus Osterrieder, dean of the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences in Hong Kong, who said that unlike COVID, the Monkey B virus faces a “dead end” when it comes to human transmission.
“It’s not jumping from one human to another,” Osterrieder said. “SARS-CoV-2, on the other hand, has acquired the ability to spread to a new host.”
Monkey B virus infections are mainly caused when infected macaque monkeys bite or scratch people, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also noted that viral infections in people, not to mention deadly infections, are rare.
According to the CDC, there has never been a single case of an infected person transmitting the Monkey B virus to another person.
The last known death from the Monkey B virus in the United States was in 1997. Primate researcher Elizabeth Griffin, 22, contracted the disease after an infected rhesus monkey threw waste in her eye. Griffin fell violently ill and died six weeks later, according to the New York Times.
[ad_2]
Source link