JAKARTA – A veterinarian infected with the monkey B virus in China has reportedly died.
But so far, several people who had been in close contact with the victim have survived, the China Center for Infectious Disease Prevention (CCDC) reported in its weekly newspaper, reported Saturday (July 17th).
The newspaper said a 53-year-old man from Beijing who worked at a primate research institute died on May 27. He developed early symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, a month after dissecting two monkeys who died in early March.
The doctor had been treated in several hospitals before he died. The CCDC said there had been no previous deaths or clinical evidence of monkey B virus infection in China.
The veterinarian’s death is the first case of monkey B virus death in humans. The researchers took cerebrospinal fluid samples from the vet in April and the results confirmed that he was positive for monkey B virus.
However, samples taken from close contacts gave negative results. The virus was first identified in 1932 as an “enzootic alphaherpesvirus” in Macaca monkeys.
The virus can be transmitted by direct contact and exchange of bodily fluids with a death rate of 70 to 80 percent. In the review, the CCDC also mentions that monkeys can potentially pose a threat to those around them.
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