Overview
- Monkey B virus is also known as B virus or alpha herpes virus or herpes virus simiae.
- It was first found in 1932, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the virus has infected only 50 people till 2020, of which 21 died.
- It is a rare form of infection that is caused by macaques of the genus Macaca, chimpanzees, and capuchin monkeys.
- This virus is the only old-world monkey herpes virus that causes drastic infections in humans.
- China reported its first death by this virus, as per reports a 53-year-old male veterinarian from Beijing got infected by this virus in March 2021, he was suffering from early-onset symptoms of nausea and vomiting in April and after that, he died in May.
HOW DOES IT SPREAD?
- It is spread when a person comes in contact with infected monkey exchanges bodily fluid or secretions.
- Mainly this virus is found in the macaque monkeys’ saliva, feces, urine, brain, and spinal cord tissue. This virus can survive for an hour in a moist environment.
- Apart from all these, it can infect humans if bitten or scratched by an infected monkey.
- Contaminated surfaces like labs and all can also cause infection.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
- Symptoms commonly start within one month after being exposed to the virus and appear within 3 to 7 days.
- The earliest symptoms of the B virus are flu-like symptoms like fever and chills, fatigue, headache, body, and muscle ache.
- Some other symptoms are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and hiccups.
- After some time the small blisters developed on the wound or the part infected.
- When the case worsens the virus causes inflammation and swelling in the nervous system followed by some memory-related problems and eventually causes death.
TREATMENT: –
- Currently, there is no available vaccine for the prevention of this virus. So, the only suggested treatment is fluid therapy.
- And the infected portion should immediately be washed by disinfectants.