First human B virus case brings warning not to provoke wild monkeys
Message for hikers comes as patient’s condition improves from ‘critical’ to ‘serious’
Hikers should avoid provoking wild monkeys, such as by refraining from eating, holding plastic bags or making eye contact while in their company, a wildlife official said, adding some interactions by the city’s residents with the animals were “well-intentioned, but not very helpful”.
Shek Chung-tong, a senior fauna conservation officer with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, issued the warning two days after a 37-year-old man was confirmed as the city’s first human case of the deadly B virus following a monkey attack.
According to the Hospital Authority, the patient’s condition had improved from “critical” to “serious” as of yesterday morning.
“When one visits parks where monkeys live, you must first and foremost not take anything out to eat,” Shek told a radio programme.
“You will also be better off not holding plastic bags and hiding your food in backpacks. They might mistake you for withholding food from them based on their past experience, and will try to snatch them off you.”
Shek said looking at the monkeys in the eye would provoke them, while approaching the animals could startle or irritate them, causing them to overreact.
He also described some residents’ decision to feed high-sugar foods such as apples and bananas to monkeys as “well-intentioned, but not helpful”.
Such habits would affect the monkeys’ health and make them more accustomed to seeking out human foods, the official added.
The department said that it had planted hundreds of thousands of trees in country parks over the years to serve as a source of food for the monkeys.
Reports of nuisance caused by monkeys have hovered at about 200 to 300 annually for the past three years, while those of injuries stood at five to eight cases.
The data represents a significant drop from 2006 and 2007, when the annual number of nuisance reports was about 1,000.
Since 2007, the department has entrusted the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation with performing contraceptive and sterilisation surgeries on monkeys.
Official estimates suggest about 70 per cent of Hong Kong’s wild monkey population, more than 1,900 animals, have been sterilised.
Shek said yesterday that the department planned to ramp up sterilisation efforts over the next five years and achieve an annual target of 100 to 120 monkeys.
The city’s first recorded human case of the B virus was revealed on Wednesday. The man was admitted to Tsuen Wan’s Yan Chai Hospital with a fever and decreased level of consciousness on March 21.
The virus, also known as the human simiae virus, can spread to people from macaques, a type of wild monkey common in Hong Kong, which naturally carry the disease in their saliva, urine and stool.
Authorities said a preliminary investigation indicated the patient previously had contact with wild monkeys and was injured during a trip to Kam Shan Country Park in late February.
Dr Wilson Lam, president of the Hong Kong Society of Infectious Diseases, told the same radio programme yesterday that the virus was “very rare”, with only about 50 human infections and 21 deaths recorded since it was discovered in 1932.
“We don’t know the virus very well, but based on the limited data, if humans are in contact with the virus, there’s a high chance of infection,” he said. “It can have serious health consequences that affect the spinal nerves and central nervous system.”
Lam said bites and scratches from wild monkeys should be disinfected as soon as possible, ideally within five minutes. If disinfecting the wound was not immediately possible, it should be cleaned with running water for 15 minutes, he added.
“You could potentially kill the virus through disinfection, and when washing it away, you can at least lower the viral load from the [monkey’s] fluids. Otherwise, the virus can enter into the body’s system,” he said.
Lawmaker Steven Ho Chun-yin, who represents the agriculture and fisheries functional constituency, said that authorities’ information efforts and public awareness about the risks of feeding monkeys needed to improve.
According to the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance, feeding any wild animal is prohibited in Hong Kong to prevent them from losing their ability to forage in the wild.
Anyone convicted of breaching the law can face a fine of up to HK$10,000.