A man in China has died after contracting a rare infectious disease from primates known as monkey virus B or herpes B. This is the first time a person has fallen victim to this disease in the country.
The Chinese press reported this after the 53-year-old veterinarian, who died in May, was found to have traces of the virus in his body last Saturday.
According to the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the man worked at a research institute where he specialized in raising non-human primates and where he dissected two dead monkeys.
In May, he experienced symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fever and died on the 27th. Samples of saliva and blood were sent for analysis, but the results only came to light now that researchers found signs of the virus in a veterinarian.
Both colleagues tested negative, officials said.
The virus is “a product of the evolution of species,” just like the “new coronavirus,” says Nikolaus Osterider, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University Jockey Club in Hong Kong, to the Washington Post.
The specialist also assumes that there are differences between one virus and another, and these “essentially remain in the spread.”
“The important difference is that in the case of herpes B, this is a dead end. He does not jump from person to person. And with the new coronavirus, the virus gains the ability to spread rapidly among people. “
The disease is widespread among monkeys, but extremely rare among humans, but when it spreads, it can attack the central nervous system and lead to brain inflammation, loss of consciousness and, as a result, death.
Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease specialist at Kobe University in Tokyo, Japan, points out “80% fatality if the disease is left untreated.”
Both experts acknowledge that more needs to be learned about the virus and are calling for caution when interacting with monkeys in environments such as zoos or outdoors.
For the Chinese authorities, the discovery of the herpes simplex virus B in humans suggests that “there is a potential threat to zoo workers” and that it is therefore necessary “to strengthen surveillance systems where there are laboratories with monkeys and workers.”
