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@JNRutherford | |||||
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Listen. I know the jokes write themselves here but there’s a very important fact buried in this: macaques carry ***Herpes B***.
That’s not the same herpes humans carry. Herpes B is FATAL to humans. That’s no joke. twitter.com/nypost/status/…
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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Many of us primatology folks remember when a young researcher at Yerkes died because of exposure to macaque-borne Herpes B. (I was in my first year of grad school.) She was exposed because of aerosol spray from hosing down a macaque enclosure.
nytimes.com/1997/12/14/us/…
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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Case fatality rate of Herpes B infection in humans is 80%. Best for you and for the monkeys to keep your distance.
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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The jokey reaction to this news item is an unintended consequence of our commodification of monkeys as cute and funny.
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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I’m not trying to stoke panic. It’s not easy to catch. BUT once you do you can’t uncatch it and chances are good it will kill you. Just stay away from the monkeys whether here or any tourist spot. Let the professionals handle them.
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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And one more thing: human herpes is also not a joke. It’s a super common highly manageable STI. Grow up.
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Faine Greenwood
@faineg
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2. velj |
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Yikes. Though this validates my long-standing horror at seeing tourists in Southeast Asia treating macaques like petting-zoo bunny rabbits
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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I’m always horrified when I see tourists with macaques draped over the shoulders, touching their faces. 😳🤢😷
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SciencePundit
@SciencePundit
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2. velj |
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Is there no vaccine for Herpes B?
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Dr. Julienne Rutherford, professional placentrix
@JNRutherford
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2. velj |
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ghengis con
@Carlbeaulieu10
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3. velj |
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I read the book Hot Zone.
Scary stuff.
The worst we face in my area is bigfoot and rain.
Pandora is out of the box.
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tactical jorts
@HazmatZombie
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3. velj |
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not really the point, but Pandora was never in the box
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