Virus From Monkey Kills Researcher, 22 Experts Stress Risk Of Danger From Macaques Is Well Known

The death of a young researcher from a monkey virus is a reminder that those who handle macaque monkeys need to be cautious - not a sign that new rules are needed, experts said Friday.

Most of the estimated 285 captive macaques in the world are in research labs, with a handful in zoos and private homes. Those who care for them are well aware of the deadly risks they face.

“Anybody who deals with macaques knows this can happen,” said Jackie Pritchard of the primate information center at the University of Washington.

“Research staff are just going to be reminded double to take precautions.”

Elizabeth R. Griffin, a 22-year-old employee of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University, died Wednesday of complications from the herpes B virus.

She contracted the virus while moving a rhesus monkey from his cage six weeks earlier. A rhesus is a type of macaque known to carry the virus.

Herpes B virus, common and usually harmless to macaques, is fatal in 70 percent of humans who contract the disease.

In what may be the first such transmission, Griffin was splashed in the eye during the move with an unknown substance. Ten days later, her eye was inflamed. Four weeks after that, she died.