First Human Infection Case of Monkey B Virus Identified in China, 2021
Wenling Wang, Wenjie Qi, Jingyuan Liu, Haijun Du, Li Zhao, Yang Zheng, Guoxing Wang, Yang Pan, Baoying Huang, Zhaomin Feng, Daitao Zhang, Peng Yang, Jun Han, Quanyi Wang, Wenjie Tan
Abstract
Monkey B virus (BV), initially isolated in 1932, is currently designated as Macacine alphaherpesvirus 1 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (1). BV is an alphaherpesvirus enzootic in macaques of the genus Macaca, normally transmitted horizontally via direct contact and exchange of bodily secretions, just like herpes simplex virus (HSV) in humans. BV is not evident in its natural macaque hosts, but about 60 additional cases of pathogenic zoonotic BV infection have occurred sporadically and the fatality rate of zoonotic BV infections is 70%-80%. Although the risk for secondary transmission appears to be minimal, one case of human-to-human transmission of herpes B virus has previously been documented (2). Zoonotic BV infections have mainly involved primate veterinarians, animal care personnel, or laboratory researchers in North America. However, there were no fatal or even clinically evident BV infections in China before 2021. Here, we reported the first human infection case with BV identified in China.