Veterinarian dies in China from rare monkey virus

A veterinarian in China has died after being infected with a rare infectious disease found in monkeys - the Monkey B virus.

The death of the 53-year-old man from Beijing was reported by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is the first known case and death of the Monkey B virus, sometimes known as herpes B in China.

READ MORE: Rare case of monkeypox emerges in US

The first known case of a human infected with the Monkey B virus was in 1932 and there have since been about 60 cases, mostly involving vets, people working with animals or lab researchers in the US.

The man who died in China worked in a research institute that specialised in nonhuman primate breeding, the report from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said.

He dissected two dead monkeys in March. A month later he began to feel nauseous, was vomiting and had a fever. He died on May 27.

Blood and saliva samples were used to confirm the man was infected with the Monkey B virus.

The virus comes with a 70 to 80 per cent mortality rate in humans.

Close contacts of the man, a male doctor and a female nurse, both tested negative for the virus, officials said.

There has only been one known case where the Monkey B virus has been transmitted from human to human, in Florida in 1987.

Last week in Dallas, health officials reported a rare case of monkeypox in a traveller from Nigeria.