Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; Friday, December 12, 1997 04:15:00
Tara Meyer, Associated Press Writer
Ten days later, the woman's eye was inflamed. Four weeks later, she died after contracting the herpes B virus.
The woman's death, announced Thursday, is the first known case in which the virus is believed to have been transmitted through the eye, said Yerkes spokeswoman Kate Egan.
"I don't know what it was, urine, feces ... we just don't know," Ms. Egan said. The virus, common among rhesus and macaque monkeys, is either harmless or causes mild disease in the primates. It is deadly to humans.
The woman, identified by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as Elizabeth R. Griffin, died Wednesday after a roller-coaster battle with the virus. She appeared fine after initial treatment for her eye, then worsened.
Griffin, 22, who graduated this year with a degree in biology from Agnes Scott College, was a member of the primate research team. She was wearing a lab coat, gloves and a mask, but had no eye protection while helping to move the cage that was covered in a protective mesh to further limit contact.
"During this transfer, as she tried to look into the cage to check the status of the monkey, something came out," Dr. Tom Gordon, Yerkes' associate director of scientific programs, told reporters.
"Because it was so minor an event, it was not even viewed by the individual as serious. She didn't see it as an accident or an injury," he said. Symptoms developed about 10 days later.
Griffin was admitted to Emory University Hospital about four weeks ago. She responded well to anti-viral medication at first, said Dr. Carl Perlino, an associate professor in Emory's Department of Medicine.
"She did do well for perhaps eight to 10 days and then actually went home," Perlino said. "The day after she was sent home, I got a call saying she was developing weakness in her legs."
Griffin's condition worsened and she returned to the hospital where she died.
The virus isn't known to travel through the air, so the woman didn't think she was putting herself in any danger by not wearing eye protection, Ms. Egan said.
"In every other case we know of, the infection is from a bite or a scratch or a needle stick," she said.
"This was an extraordinary low-risk kind of activity by any measure we have," Gordon said. "There's no way you can get bitten or scratched doing what she was doing."
Herpes B virus is fatal in 70 percent of humans who contract the disease. Gordon said only 40 cases of monkey-to-human transmission have been recorded since 1933, when the first case was reported in a human. The cases came from bites, scratches and pricks from needles, the center said.
Griffin's colleagues held a memorial service for her at a chapel on Emory's campus Thursday, lauding her service to the research center.
The Yerkes center, which holds about 2,800 primates, performs tests on 15 primate species to find cures for AIDS, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease and cancer.
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