Monkey B virus

Last Updated20/07/2021

China has reported its first human infection with Monkey B Virus (BV) and subsequent death.
A Beijing-based veterinary surgeon was infected with the virus after he dissected two dead monkeys in early March, according to China CDC Weekly.
The Weekly mentioned zoonotic threat to primate veterinarians, animal care personnel, or laboratory researchers due to virus.

Monkey B virus, or herpes B virus, is prevalent among macaque monkeys, but extremely rare — and often deadly — when it spreads to humans.
The virus, initially isolated in 1932, is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca.
There have not been documented cases of such primates spreading the B virus except to macaques as per the US CDC
It is caused by macaques, a genus of Old World monkeys that serve as the natural host.
While the virus is transmitted by macaques, chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys can also become infected and die.
B virus is also commonly referred to as herpes B, monkey B virus, herpesvirus simiae, and herpesvirus B.

The virus is generally transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily fluid secretions.
The incubation period for infection in humans after an identified exposure is reported to range from 2 days to 5 weeks
Most well-documented cases present 5–21 days after exposure.

Initial symptoms— fever, chills, muscle aches, fatigue, and rash-itchy wounds, among others.
These initial symptoms usually develop around 1-3 weeks after exposure to the virus.
Later Symptoms can include meningismus, nausea, vomiting, persistent headache, confusion, diplopia, dysphagia, dizziness, dysarthria, cranial nerve palsies, and ataxia. Seizures, hemiplegia, hemiparesis, ascending paralysis, respiratory failure, and coma more commonly occur later in the course of infection.
Some patients have presented with symptoms within 48 h after exposure to the virus.
In the later stage, the virus can lead to the loss of muscle coordination and neurological damage.
It tends to attack the central nervous system and cause inflammation to the brain, leading to a loss of consciousness