Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
to date no disease has been associated with infection in humans (Heneine
et al
.,
1993
; Lerche
et al
.,
2001
).
Rabies
We discuss the issue of rabies virus here, because it comes up frequently in the
context of travel medicine. It is common practice in Southeast Asia for rabies
prophylaxis to be given to people who present to a healthcare provider having
been injured, usually bitten, by a monkey (Altmann
et al
.,
2009
; Gautret
et al
.,
2007
; Ramos and Ramos,
2002
; Reynes
et al
.,
1999
). This widespread prac-
tice may give the false impression that rabies is actually enzootic or common
among free-ranging non-human primates. In fact, there is no evidence that this
is the case and little reason to believe that bites from Asian non-human primates
pose a risk for rabies infection. There is no documented evidence of transmis-
sion of rabies virus from
M. fascicularis
to humans. We can only hypothesize
about why rabies does not appear to naturally infect macaques even in areas
where rabies transmission from animals to humans is common. In general,
macaques and dogs/rodents/bats (the latter which have been shown to carry
and transmit the rabies virus) do not occupy the same ecological niche. In areas
where dogs and monkeys do overlap, monkeys are typically scared of dogs
because dogs are often used to chase monkeys from the fields. Additionally,
unlike humans, monkeys can easily escape a rabid dog by fleeing up into the
trees. There is, however, limited data suggesting that pet New World monkeys
that have been exposed to other rabid animals may be capable of transmitting
rabies to humans (Favoretto
et al
.,
2001
).
Ebola Reston virus
Ebola Reston is one of five known strains of filovirus. Of the four other strains,
the Zaire, Sudan and Bundibugyo strains are associated with severe human
disease characterized by high mortality (Gonzalez
et al
.,
2007
). Ebola Reston
was discovered in 1989, linked to an epidemic of viral hemorrhagic fever
among long-tailed macaques imported from the Philippines and quarantined
at a facility in Reston, Virginia (Miranda
et al
.,
2002
). Other epidemics among
long-tailed macaques imported from the Philippines were reported during the
1990's (Jahrling
et al
.,
1996
). Ebola Reston causes high mortality rates in
infected macaques, but no disease has been observed in any of the two dozen
humans with serological evidence of infection. Recently, epizootics (i.e., new
outbreaks in animals) in pigs in the Philippines have been linked with Ebola
