Herpes B and Macaques in Aust.

L

LOU

Well-Known Member
Attempts had been made to put the LT macaques in managed programs within other associations but there were no takers, hence the decision to transfer them to Tasmania Zoo.

During the 2005 TAG meeting, it was decided that all macaques would be phased-out of the region to prevent humans being infected by Herpes B.

And animal kid, Melbourne Zoo do plan to acquire Francois Langurs but it is unlikely to happen for quite some time.

:)
 
Attempts had been made to put the LT macaques in managed programs within other associations but there were no takers, hence the decision to transfer them to Tasmania Zoo.

During the 2005 TAG meeting, it was decided that all macaques would be phased-out of the region to prevent humans being infected by Herpes B.

And animal kid, Melbourne Zoo do plan to acquire Francois Langurs but it is unlikely to happen for quite some time.

:)
 
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques!
You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
 
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques!
You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
 
Ara said:
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques! You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
Click to expand...

Rather puzzling ... or to be more exact: irreparable unscientific tunnelvision is the disease (LOL). :rolleyes:
(Well I am not laughing ... here).
 
Ara said:
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques! You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
Click to expand...

Rather puzzling ... or to be more exact: irreparable unscientific tunnelvision is the disease (LOL). :rolleyes:
(Well I am not laughing ... here).
 
Herpes A and Herpes B are very different to one another and have very different consequences for the infected person
 
Herpes A and Herpes B are very different to one another and have very different consequences for the infected person
 
Ara said:
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques!
You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
Click to expand...

fatuous? i think you have your herpes B mixed up with your genital herpes there ara. herpes B, whilst rather harmless to macaques, kills most humans who become infected, which isn't difficult. a bite on the hand or a splash of water can do it. it causes brain swelling and attacks the nervous system.

it poses a very serious health risk to those who work with macaques.
 
Ara said:
That's a rather fatuous reason to phase out macaques!
You don't need monkeys to get Herpes B - you get it by "monkeying around" with the wrong person!
Click to expand...

fatuous? i think you have your herpes B mixed up with your genital herpes there ara. herpes B, whilst rather harmless to macaques, kills most humans who become infected, which isn't difficult. a bite on the hand or a splash of water can do it. it causes brain swelling and attacks the nervous system.

it poses a very serious health risk to those who work with macaques.
 
i have to agree with phoenix here, these diseases pose a health risk to the public and and if somone was to get infected and trace it back to a zoo animal. Well there would be a whole can of worms opened uped. zoos have to be for animals but they also have to put the publics saftey first.
 
i have to agree with phoenix here, these diseases pose a health risk to the public and and if somone was to get infected and trace it back to a zoo animal. Well there would be a whole can of worms opened uped. zoos have to be for animals but they also have to put the publics saftey first.
 
phoenix said:
fatuous? i think you have your herpes B mixed up with your genital herpes there ara. herpes B, whilst rather harmless to macaques, kills most humans who become infected, which isn't difficult. a bite on the hand or a splash of water can do it. it causes brain swelling and attacks the nervous system.

it poses a very serious health risk to those who work with macaques.
Click to expand...


Can anyone tell me how many humans have been killed by Herpes B as a result of being infected by a zoo macaque?

Worldwide?

And the source of your information please?
 
phoenix said:
fatuous? i think you have your herpes B mixed up with your genital herpes there ara. herpes B, whilst rather harmless to macaques, kills most humans who become infected, which isn't difficult. a bite on the hand or a splash of water can do it. it causes brain swelling and attacks the nervous system.

it poses a very serious health risk to those who work with macaques.
Click to expand...


Can anyone tell me how many humans have been killed by Herpes B as a result of being infected by a zoo macaque?

Worldwide?

And the source of your information please?
 
MARK said:
Thanks Phoenix, I hope they are a very long lived species if thats the case, As another member pointed out yesterday why cant we stick with the group of Dusky Langers we now have at Adelaide zoo at least they are breeding and just build on this group
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Yes Mark, that would seem like a more realistic option to me.
1) I can argue with anyone who claims cannot import as can not and will not are rather infamous intertwinned bros ... so to speak (LOL). ;) This only infers there is no political will to do so and sadly most Australian exotic species programmes will go down the drain if this all-pervasive political correctness/ rationale cum philosophy continues. It is just not in the interest of running any exotic species programme.
2) In Thailand/Burma/Malaysia the wildlife trade remains open to dusky langurs and quite a few confiscees might end up in zoos. So, a source population would not be an issue and it would extend the in situ arm of ARAZPA/ZAA, the region or whatever ....

Macaques and primate disease.
1) Whereas herpes A/B are indeed major zoonotic diseases with intraspecies hopping and a major health concern for humans, the very risk of humans contracting it is rather low. If not, I would challenge anyone to come up with statistics and that Herpes A/B show up big time in relation to common diseases like malaria, TB, polio, smallpox. Where are those scientific and cited papers?
2) If you are SO worried about a neglible animal disease risk then any primate is NO GO as most prosimians have had positive exposure to HIV, herpes et cetera et cetera.

I personally view this whole zoonotic/vet debate beyond the pale and not based upon diligent science, it is pure emotion.

K.B.
 
Herpes-B Fact Sheet
[SIZE=-1]Q. Can there be serious complications from B-Virus infection?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]A. Of the 22 reported cases, 20 infected individuals developed encephalitis and 15 of these patients died as a result of their infection.[/SIZE]
Click to expand...

Biology of B virus in macaque and human hosts: a r... [Clin Infect Dis. 1992] - PubMed result

At least 25 cases of human disease caused by B virus have occurred to date, leading to death in 16 instances.
Click to expand...

So lets say an average of 23.5 cases and 15.5 Deaths

Not alot considering how many Zoo's have macaques, so there must be plenty of people working with them.
 
Herpes B: eMedicine Infectious Diseases

this shows that people have been infected by these animals. And this info dosent say out right that a large number of infections come from these monkeys, but it does mention that when laborotory workers were working with these species the most. Infection rates were hire.

still this is only a small amout of people, and chances are likley to be very low.
 
What I find amazing about the Australasian zoo stance towards macaques and disease transmission is the fact that macaques are held in numerous collections in the US and Europe, keeping staff rarely take extra health precautions when working with them, and several collections are even walk-through for visitors. On top of that tourists commonly come into contact with macaques when visiting SE Asian countries. One would think that disease transmission should be rife!
 
i think the transmission of herpes B is a dead serious (no pun intended) issue.

but i don't think the phase out of macaques is the answer. as has been said they are probably the monkeys that have the most contact with the most humans in the world - yet we have only seen a handful of cases of transmission of the virus between monkeys and humans.

i think its smart to test all macaques in the region for the disease, and develop protocols for all groups that test positive, including zero integration with non-infected monkeys, a strict management policy of protected contact, and halting breeding.
 
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