Herpes B and Macaques in Aust.

[Steve Robinson]

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.

It's certainly a serious topic which is why I asked the questions.

Your response is confusing [or confused!] LOL

If you halt breeding you WILL phase out macaques.

Testing does not tell us the whole story. Herpes B is a virus and thus sheds spasmodically. You can test a positive animal and the test will return negative if the virus is not shedding at the time of the test.

So, safety protocols for ALL macaques is the way to go.

Our thoughts here at the DDZ are that, as long as staff are trained to adhere to our safety protocols, there is insufficient evidence out there to convince us that macaques are any more of a risk to our staff than any other primate.

However, we keep asking the questions in case evidence to the contrary surfaces that we have hitherto been unaware of.

 

[phoenix]

well the idea is that we purposefully isolate and phase out all infected animals and stringently test all imports, eventually giving us a disease free population.

but thats just an idea. i don't pretend to know much about herpes B - only that for a long time i have known it is carried by macaque monkeys and is deadly to humans.

for this reason i try to never touch macaques when traveling. but then, your talking to a guy who lifts other peoples toilet seats with his foot....

 

[Steve Robinson]

but then, your talking to a guy who lifts other peoples toilet seats with his foot....

But do you put them back down again??? LOL!

 

[phoenix]

yes..

but again, with my shoe!

total germaphobe.

 

[ZYBen]

Perhaps this is how Herpes B got into Macaque Bloodlines

 

[phoenix]

and i get issued warnings for being "argumentative".....

 

[ZYBen]

I call this 'trying to liven the forum up again', its been dead of late

 

[LOU]

Perth Zoo recently transferred their sulawesi macaques to a zoo in Israel (can't remember which).

The current macaque holdings in ARAZPA zoos are now:

Lion-tailed Macaque - Adelaide Zoo
Bonnet Macaque - Auckland Zoo
Sulawesi Macaque - Cairns Wildlife Reserve
Rhesus Macaque - Crocodylus Park
Japanese Macaque - Gorge Wildlife Park
Cairns Wildlife Reserve
Crab-eating Macaque - Rockhampton Zoo

Also, AZ plan to move their lion-tails to Rockhampton.

 

[Hix]

Perth Zoo recently transferred their sulawesi macaques to a zoo in Israel (can't remember which).

The current macaque holdings in ARAZPA zoos are now:

Lion-tailed Macaque - Adelaide Zoo
Bonnet Macaque - Auckland Zoo
Sulawesi Macaque - Cairns Wildlife Reserve
Rhesus Macaque - Crocodylus Park
Japanese Macaque - Gorge Wildlife Park
Cairns Wildlife Reserve
Crab-eating Macaque - Rockhampton Zoo

Also, AZ plan to move their lion-tails to Rockhampton.

What happened to Melbourne's Lion-tails?

 

[LOU]

What happened to Melbourne's Lion-tails?

They were moved to Tasmania Zoo.