A 53-year-old male veterinarian in China died in May amidst the coronavirus pandemic due to the Monkey B virus. The vet researched non-human primates and showed early symptoms of vomiting and nausea.
New virus found in China
China reported the first case of Monkey B virus (BV) in a veterinarian from Beijing. The infection, reported exactly one month after he dissected two dead monkeys at the beginning of March. The 53-year-old worked in a research institute working on primates other than humans. He started showing early onset of the disease with symptoms like vomiting and nausea in April. However, he died in May. His death raises concerns in between the ongoing coronavirus. No fatal or clinically apparent Moneky B virus infections surfaced in China before. Hence, this infection makes the incidence of the disease.
What is the Monkey B virus? How does it transmit?
The virus, first isolated in 1932 belongs to the Macaca genus. It is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques. However, the virus is only found in old-world monkeys. This shows a severe degree of pathogenicity in humans. Additionally, the B virus transmits through direct contact and the exchange of bodily fluids of monkeys. It has a fatality of 70 to 80 percent.
As per reports from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), macaques harbor the virus in their saliva. urine, feces, brain, and spinal cord tissues. Additionally, it is also present in cells from an infected monkey in a laboratory. The virus can survive on moist surfaces for several hours. Humans can carry the virus if they get scratched or bitten by infected monkeys. Moreover, they can also get infected if they come in contact with infected tissue or fluid from monkeys. The infected sample can pass through the eyes, nose, mouth, and open wounds.