PremiumA Beijing-based veterinarian who was confirmed as China's first human infection case with Monkey B virus (BV) has died, amid rising concerns. Meanwhile, a person infected with the monkeypox virus has been detected in Texas, US.
Global Times citing the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the 53-year-old vet showed early-onset symptoms of nausea and vomiting a month after he dissected two dead monkeys in early March. The vet sought treatment in several hospitals and eventually died on May 27, said the journal.
Meanwhile, his family members are reportedly safe from the virus.
The vet used to works for an institution researching on non-human primates.
Global Times stated, there were no fatal or even clinically evident BV infections in China before, thus the vet's case marks the first human infection case with BV identified in China.
Researchers have collected the cerebrospinal fluid of the veterinarian in April and identified him as positive for BV, yet samples of his close contacts suggested negative results for the virus, reported Global Times.
The journal suggested that BV in monkeys might pose a potential threat to occupational workers.
A rare case of Monkeypox virus detected in Texas
A rare case of a person infected with the monkeypox virus has been detected in the US state of Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said.
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed on July 15 a case of human monkeypox in a US resident who recently traveled from Nigeria to the United States," the CDC in a press release said on Friday.
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.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
