Source: Pixabay
According to Global Times, a Beijing-based vet who was confirmed as China’s first human infection case with Monkey B Virus (BV) has died from the virus, but his close contacts are safe for the time being.
Meanwhile, a person infected with the monkeypox virus has been hospitalized in Texas, United States.
The 53-year-old male vet, who worked for a non-human primate research organisation, developed nausea and vomiting a month after dissecting two dead monkeys in early March.
The vet sought treatment at several hospitals before passing away on May 27, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s China CDC Weekly English Platform.
It was stated that there had previously been no fatal or even clinically evident BV infections in China, making the vet’s case the first human infection case with BV identified in China.
Researchers collected the veterinarian’s cerebrospinal fluid in April and found him to be positive for BV, despite the fact that samples from his close contacts tested negative for the virus.
The virus, discovered in 1932, is an alphaherpesvirus that is enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca. It is transmitted through direct contact and the exchange of bodily secretions, and has a fatality rate of 70-80%.
The journal speculated that BV in monkeys could pose a risk to occupational workers.
According to the report, BV must be eliminated during the development of specific pathogen-free rhesus colonies, and surveillance in laboratory macaques and occupational workers in China must be strengthened.