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B virus
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B virus
B-virus, sometimes called Herpes B, is a virus of the genus Simplexvirus that infects macaque monkeys. B virus is very similar to Herpes simplex virus 1, and as such, this neurotropic virus is not found in the blood.
In the natural host, the virus exhibits pathogenesis similar to that of cold sores in humans. There have been a number of accidental infections and fatalities of researchers working with rhesus monkeys (Rhesus macaque). When humans are zoonotically infected with B virus, they can present with a severe encephalitis, resulting in permanent neurological dysfunction or death. Severity of the disease increases for untreated patients, with a case fatality rate of approximately 80%. Early diagnosis and subsequent treatment are crucial to human survival of the infection.
Personal protective equipment is necessary when working with macaques, especially with animals that have tested positive for the virus. Bites, scratches, and exposures to mucous membranes, including the eye, have led to infection when not cleaned immediately.
B virus was first identified in 1932 following the death of William Brebner, a young physician who was bitten by a rhesus monkey while doing research on polio. He had healed from the bite but later developed a febrile illness, resulting in localized erythema, lymphangitis, lymphadenitis and, ultimately, transverse myelitis. Neurologic tissues obtained during autopsy revealed the presence of an ultrafilterable agent that appeared similar to HSV-1. This isolate was originally termed "W virus."
Within a year of Brebner's death, Albert Sabin identified a novel virus from the same samples, which he later named B virus. Sabin further described the lethality of B virus by showing that infectivity was independent of the route of inoculation. Additionally, it was observed that B virus induced immunologic responses similar to HSV-1 and shared similarities to HVP-2 and Langur herpesvirus, two other nonhuman primate alphaherpesviruses.
By 1959, B virus was identified as the causative agent in 17 human cases, 12 of which resulted in death. Approximately 50 cases had been identified by 2002, although only 26 were well documented. Improvements in handling human cases have been made in the past several decades. Between 1987 and 2004, the mortality rate decreased, largely due to the addition of new forms of treatment and improved diagnosis. There have been a total of five fatalities related to B virus in this period.
In 1997 researcher Elizabeth Griffin was splashed in the eye by an infected rhesus monkey while working at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and she subsequently died. In 2019, a researcher working with monkeys at a Japanese pharmaceutical company became infected and critically ill. In 2021, a veterinarian in China became infected while performing two dissections on rhesus monkeys and subsequently died.
B virus is approximately 200 nm in diameter and has a structure almost identical to that of HSV1 and HSV2. It has an icosahedral capsid (T=16) consisting of 150 hexons and 12 pentons formed from 6 proteins. The envelope is loose around the viral capsid and contains at least 10 glycoproteins critical for adsorption and penetration into host cells. The tegument, containing at least 14 proteins, lies between the capsid and the envelope. The tegument proteins are involved in nucleic acid metabolism, DNA synthesis, and protein processing. The proteins in the tegument are thymidine kinase, thymidylate synthetase, dUTPase, ribonucleotide reductase, DNA polymerase, DNA helicase, DNA primase, and protein kinases.
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B virus
B-virus, sometimes called Herpes B, is a virus of the genus Simplexvirus that infects macaque monkeys. B virus is very similar to Herpes simplex virus 1, and as such, this neurotropic virus is not found in the blood.
In the natural host, the virus exhibits pathogenesis similar to that of cold sores in humans. There have been a number of accidental infections and fatalities of researchers working with rhesus monkeys (Rhesus macaque). When humans are zoonotically infected with B virus, they can present with a severe encephalitis, resulting in permanent neurological dysfunction or death. Severity of the disease increases for untreated patients, with a case fatality rate of approximately 80%. Early diagnosis and subsequent treatment are crucial to human survival of the infection.
Personal protective equipment is necessary when working with macaques, especially with animals that have tested positive for the virus. Bites, scratches, and exposures to mucous membranes, including the eye, have led to infection when not cleaned immediately.
B virus was first identified in 1932 following the death of William Brebner, a young physician who was bitten by a rhesus monkey while doing research on polio. He had healed from the bite but later developed a febrile illness, resulting in localized erythema, lymphangitis, lymphadenitis and, ultimately, transverse myelitis. Neurologic tissues obtained during autopsy revealed the presence of an ultrafilterable agent that appeared similar to HSV-1. This isolate was originally termed "W virus."
Within a year of Brebner's death, Albert Sabin identified a novel virus from the same samples, which he later named B virus. Sabin further described the lethality of B virus by showing that infectivity was independent of the route of inoculation. Additionally, it was observed that B virus induced immunologic responses similar to HSV-1 and shared similarities to HVP-2 and Langur herpesvirus, two other nonhuman primate alphaherpesviruses.
By 1959, B virus was identified as the causative agent in 17 human cases, 12 of which resulted in death. Approximately 50 cases had been identified by 2002, although only 26 were well documented. Improvements in handling human cases have been made in the past several decades. Between 1987 and 2004, the mortality rate decreased, largely due to the addition of new forms of treatment and improved diagnosis. There have been a total of five fatalities related to B virus in this period.
In 1997 researcher Elizabeth Griffin was splashed in the eye by an infected rhesus monkey while working at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and she subsequently died. In 2019, a researcher working with monkeys at a Japanese pharmaceutical company became infected and critically ill. In 2021, a veterinarian in China became infected while performing two dissections on rhesus monkeys and subsequently died.
B virus is approximately 200 nm in diameter and has a structure almost identical to that of HSV1 and HSV2. It has an icosahedral capsid (T=16) consisting of 150 hexons and 12 pentons formed from 6 proteins. The envelope is loose around the viral capsid and contains at least 10 glycoproteins critical for adsorption and penetration into host cells. The tegument, containing at least 14 proteins, lies between the capsid and the envelope. The tegument proteins are involved in nucleic acid metabolism, DNA synthesis, and protein processing. The proteins in the tegument are thymidine kinase, thymidylate synthetase, dUTPase, ribonucleotide reductase, DNA polymerase, DNA helicase, DNA primase, and protein kinases.
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