Tourists warned not to touch monkeys in Asia

[Guest guest]

Article and photos at

 

http://www.asianpacificpost.com/apnews/news/article;jsessionid=AFB2CA75D5C48

9ED4D103EE1E943B486?id=637 & print=true

 

Tourists warned not to touch monkeys in Asia

 

Aug 25, 2005

Photo caption: 'Don't do this in Asia' say scientists

 

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, 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', according to the

Environmental News Service.

 

[imgR 1183] 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.

 

" The issue of primate-to-human viral transmission has been studied

extensively in Africa, largely because that is where HIV originated, "

explains Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, lead author of the study and a research

scientist in the Division of International Programs at the University of

Washington National Primate Research Center in Seattle.

 

" But there has not been much work on the topic in Asia, which has huge

primate diversity and large human populations, " she said.

 

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.

 

Buddhist and Hindu monkey temples places of worship that have become refuges

for populations of primates are common in South and Southeast Asia.

 

 

Monkeys in Bali

On the island of Bali alone, there are more than 40 such temples, which are

frequented by tourists from around the world. About 700,000 international

tourists visit the island's four main monkey temples every year. Temple

workers and people who live near the temples also have a great deal of

contact with monkeys at the religious sites.

 

Researchers still do not know the long-term effects of simian foamy virus on

humans. There are about 40 known cases of people being infected, through

laboratory or zoo contact, or through bushmeat hunting in Africa. There are

no known cases of human disease yet. The majority of previous primate to

human viral transmission research focused on bushmeat hunting, in which

monkeys and other wild animals are hunted for food.

 

Though bushmeat hunting and consumption may be a significant factor in viral

transmission in Africa, Jones-Engel says people in Asia come into contact

with primates in many other ways - animal markets, primate pet ownership,

urban performing primates, and zoos.

 

" In Asia, the amount of contact between humans and primates in temple

settings dwarfs the contact due to bushmeat hunting, " says Jones-Engel.

 

Also participating in the study were researchers at the University of

Toronto; Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia; the University of

Notre Dame; the Southern Research Institute in Frederick, Maryland; and the

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas.

 

Jones-Engel and her fellow researchers warn that there are other primate

viruses known to be harmful that could jump the species barrier, and they

urge people to be cautious and careful when interacting with monkeys.

 

" If you look at free-ranging monkeys in Singapore's nature reserves, you see

that feeding by visitors is not allowed, and it is actively discouraged, "

says Gregory Engel, an attending physician at Swedish/Providence Hospital in

Seattle, a clinical instructor of family medicine at the University of

Washington, and a co-author on the study.

 

" Interspecies interaction there is very different, and rates of human-monkey

contact are much lower, " Engel said.

 

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.