SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, USA, July 25, 2005: An international team of scientists concerned about transmission of viruses from monkeys to humans are warning travellers to Asia not to pet or feed the numerous monkeys they may see at temples and other tourist sites. Feeding the animals, or even carrying food into a temple, can greatly increase the risk of a bite or scratch (the monkeys are aggressive thieves), which can lead to transmission of infection. The warning comes from researchers in the United States, Canada and Indonesia who have identified the first reported case in Asia of primate to human transmission of a retrovirus found in macaques and other primates known as the simian foamy virus. So far this virus has not been shown to cause disease in humans. The transmission of the virus from a monkey to a human took place at a monkey temple in Bali, Indonesia, the researchers report in the July issue of the journal “Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Even though this particular virus may not prove dangerous to humans, the scientists warn that the dense human and primate populations in Asia could lead to other viruses carried by primates jumping the species barrier and causing human disease. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS in humans, is believed to have originated as simian immunodeficiency virus, and jumped the species barrier to humans when African bushmeat hunters came into contact with blood from infected animals.
For this study, the researchers tested blood samples from 82 people who work in or around a temple in Bali, as well as samples from macaques in the area. They found antibodies for simian foamy virus in the blood of one 47 year old farmer who visited the temple every day. They confirmed the tests by performing a DNA analysis of the man’s blood, and found that the SFV strain he carried was the same strain found in the temple’s macaques. The man denied owning a monkey as a pet, or hunting monkeys for food. He had been bitten once and scratched more than once by the temple’s macaques.
Limiting contact between primates and humans also can reduce the transmission of human infections to monkeys. Human measles can cause disease in monkeys and can even kill them. Other primate species have already seen population losses because of infection by human illnesses. The “Gorilla Journal” reports that cases of illnesses in apes associated with human respiratory viruses and bacteria include influenza, pneumonia, herpes, measles, mumps, polio, and salmonella, as well as numerous parasites.