The Nation - News from June 22, 1989

A research technician died a week after he contracted a rare form of herpes from a bite or scratch by an infected laboratory monkey. The virus, common and harmless in Old World macaque monkeys, “is very rare among humans but proves fatal in 70% of the people who catch it,” said Dr. William Hall, chief of disease surveillance for the Michigan Department of Public Health. Hall said state health officials are monitoring 21 of the technician’s co-workers at International Research Development Corp. in Mattawan, Mich., who have been bitten or scratched by the laboratory monkeys. The 23-year-old technician, whose name was withheld at his family’s request, was infected with the “B” or “monkey” virus while working with Old World macaque monkeys.