Herpes-Infected Monkeys Invade Florida

[dixiegrrrrl]

If any state in the union best represents the dangers of invasive species, it's Florida. The Sunshine State is home to what's been a raging Burmese python invasion for some decades. And its Cuban tree frog problem isn't doing the ecosystem any favors either.

But the state has a new issue: invasive monkeys—with herpes.

There are about 1,000 feral Rhesus monkeys living in Florida right now. Among those scooped up by wildlife officials over the years, most were found to be carriers of the Herpes B virus, and this week, the colony was declared a public health hazard.

http://news.yahoo.com/herpes-infected-monkeys-invade-florida-153637867.html

I am not going to say anything.
Nope, not a word.
No matter if it kills me.......

[Downwinder]

1. Transmission -- CDC

Only one case of human-to-human transmission has been documented; the case, which was reported in a study of a B virus outbreak involving 4 persons in Florida, resulted from direct physical contact with lesions (see Epidemiologic Notes and Reports B-virus Infection in Humans -- Pensacola, Florida. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1987). Among the 4 case patients, 3 were animal handlers (2 suffered bite wounds and 1 had close contact with the sick macaque but was not injured or exposed to other bodily fluids and did not develop symptoms). The fourth patient was the wife of 1 of the animal handlers. She used an ointment to treat her husband's lesions and subsequently used it on herself to treat contact dermatitis. She seroconverted to B virus but never developed symptoms. The study found no evidence of B virus infection among 130 close contacts of the 4 patients, healthcare workers, or primate workers. Moreover, even though B virus seroprevalence among adult macaques is >70%, only a few people in the study developed laboratory evidence of B virus exposure. Thus, transmission of this virus, both human-to-human and primate-to-human, is quite rare.

http://www.cdc.gov/herpesbvirus/transmission.html

[Warren DeMontague]

2. You had me at

"Florida"

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I know!!!!

Sheep are so...passe'.