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 53-year-old veterinarian started experiencing nausea and vomiting and a month later, fever and neurological symptoms followed. He visited several hospitals but eventually died on May 27, China CDC Weekly revealed on Saturday.
Around mid-April, researchers collected cerebrospinal fluid from the patient for next-generation sequencing and the readings suggested possible alphaherpesvirus infection. They also collected several specimens including blister fluid, blood, nasal swab, throat swab, and plasma to further identify the etiological agent.
The samples were sent to the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention (IVDC) of China CDC. The IVDC conducted four sets of RT-PCR to detect BV, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), monkeypox virus and orthopoxvirus, however, the sample tested positive only for BV.
All close contacts of the patient are reported to have tested negative for the virus and are safe from it, for now, reported Global Times. Citing the first human fatality from Monkey BV, China CDC Weekly said that the virus might pose a zoonotic threat to primate veterinarians, animal care personnel, or laboratory researchers.
The journal stressed the need to eliminate the virus during the development of “specific pathogen-free rhesus colonies” and to strengthen surveillance in laboratory macaques and occupational workers in China.
Meanwhile, a person infected with the monkeypox virus has been detected in Texas, US.
The infected individual is currently hospitalised in the city of Dallas. The individual travelled from Lagos, Nigeria, to Dallas with a layover stop in Atlanta, and health officials are working to contact airline passengers and others who may have had contact with the infected individual, the release said.
According to CDC, Monkeypox is a rare but potentially serious viral illness that typically begins with flu-like illness and swelling of the lymph nodes and progresses to a widespread rash on the face and body. Most infections last 2-4 weeks. Monkeypox is in the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes a milder infection.
The first case of B virus infection was reported in 1933 when a laboratory worker was accidentally bitten by a monkey and later recovered from the bite. But, he fell ill of febrile disease with progressive symptoms of ascending myelitis and died 15 days after the first symptoms of involvement of the central nervous system (CNS). It can be transmitted via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions.
