AS the world continues to deal with the ravages of the pandemic, two new viruses have been confirmed in China, with one death in India, while hundreds of people in the US are being monitored for ‘monkeypox’ exposure.

 

Two new viruses?

In the first instance, China has reported its first known human infection with the ‘Monkey B Virus’ (BV), after a 53-year-old biomedical researcher from Beijing became infected following his dissection of two dead monkeys in March.

 

He died?

The man, who worked in a primate breeding facility, began feeling nauseous and vomiting a month later, developing a fever and neurological issues. He died on May 27, although the Chinese Centre for Disease Control (China CDC) has only just confirmed this, adding that two of his close contacts have tested negative.

 

The virus is rare?

Also known as ‘herpes B’, the virus, is common among macaque monkeys, but is rare in humans, with less than 100 reported human infections since the first case of primate-to-human transmission in 1932, when a researcher was bitten on the hand by a seemingly healthy macaque, but died 15 days later. Experts say that although there are likely to have been other cases not identified, it is a rare for humans to contract the virus.

 

Are there similarities with Covid-19?

They are all zoonotic - where a pathogen jumps from an animal to a human. But Nikolaus Osterrieder, dean of the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences in Hong Kong, told The Washington Post that although coronavirus and herpes B are both “the consequence of species jumps…the important difference is that in the case from herpes B, it’s a dead end. It’s not jumping from one human to another human”.

 

However?

Concerned social media users, on China’s Weibo platform, have viewed information on the death more than 100 million times, sharing advice to “stay away from wild animals”.

 

The second virus?

China’s state media has confirmed a human infection with the H5N6 strain of bird flu in Sichuan province on July 15, with a 55-year-old man becoming infected, having culled poultry. The state broadcaster said experts regard the infection as an "occasional case" and "the risk of an invisible epidemic is extremely low”.

 

However, in India…

A 12-year-old boy died in Delhi, having been infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. Local media said it was the first case of the virus among humans in India and the country’s first human bird flu death.

 

And in the US?

More than 200 people across 27 states are being monitored for possible exposure to monkeypox following contact with an infected person who contracted the disease in Nigeria before journeying to the US earlier this month.

 

Monkeypox?

It is caused by a virus related to smallpox and is mostly transmitted to people from wild animals such as rodents and primates, but human-to-human transmission also occurs, with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes a sign.