The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the victim worked in a research institute specializing in the breeding of primates. He is said to have operated on two monkeys that died in March.
The 53-year-old man felt nauseous and developed a fever for a month, then passed away on May 27.
After testing his blood and saliva samples, the researchers found signs of Monkey B virus, also known as herpes B virus. This is the first case of Moneky B virus infection recorded in humans in China. Country, according to the Washington Post .
Officials said two of the victims’ close contacts, including a male doctor and a female nurse, tested negative for the Monkey B virus.
Herpes B virus is common in long-tailed macaques but is very rare in humans. Most cases of this virus infection in humans are fatal.
Kentaro Iwata, an infectious disease expert at Kobe University in Tokyo, Japan, said the Monkey B virus usually attacks the central nervous system and causes encephalitis when it infects humans, leading to loss of consciousness. Therefore, if left untreated, people infected with Monkey B virus have a mortality rate of up to 80%.
According to Mr. Iwata, the first human case of herpes B virus was discovered in 1932. The world has recorded about 100 people with this virus strain, mostly in North America.
