The wild imp in Florida may be cute , but many of them carry a strain of herpes that can be deadly to humans who get scratched or bitten by one , according toWFTV.com . More than a quarter of the rhesus macaques that live in Silver Springs State Park are infected with the herpes B virus , and the total population of monkeys is expected to double over from 200 to 400 within the next three geezerhood .
Also known as the rascal B virus , herpes B is extremely rarified in humankind but can deform deadly if infection occurs . In world , symptoms may include minuscule blisters , feverishness , flu - similar aching , shudder , headache , and pain or itch at the site of the wound . Only 50 people have abridge herpes B since the computer virus was chance upon in 1932 , but 21 of those werefatal , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
macaque , which are believed to be instinctive hosts for the virus , receive only mild symptoms or no symptom at all . Still , the anticipated universe boom concerns wildlife experts , especially as the monkeysmigrateto other theatrical role of Central Florida . Theanimals , which are aboriginal to Asia , were first brought to the Florida park in the 1930s as part of an attracter that has since shut out down . In 2015 , a monkey was spot more than 20 miles in the south of the park on the ceiling of an elementary school .
University of Florida professor Steve Johnson say WFTV the DoS has a couple of options in terms of how to proceed . It could remove the monkeys from their environment , or remove the female , sterilize them , and unblock them back into the wild . However , the latter option would in all likelihood be expensive and risky for those who handle the monkeys .
" It ’s going to be a problem … continual increase of that population is going to occur without intervention , " Johnson says . Until the commonwealth reaches a determination , park visitors are advised not to touch or flow the rapscallion — which is in the main good advice when take on any wild animate being .
[ h / tThe Atlanta Journal - Constitution ]
