There are wild monkeys in Florida - and up to 30% of them have a herpes strain that can be fatal to humans.
As if the stories that come out of Florida are not crazy enough - here is an interesting fact I didn't know: There are feral monkeys in Florida.
Photo From: MonkeyHaven.org
Around the spring of 1938, a family of 5 monkeys was released on an island around Silver Springs, Florida by a tour boat operator to enhance his local attraction, the "Jungle Cruise".
Fast-forward to today and there an estimated 200 free-ranging rhesus monkeys inhabiting the Silver Springs area and, according to the CDC up to 30% of them carry "macacine herpesvirus 1" (a.k.a. Herpes B). Although roughly half the people infected with the Herpes B virus have died, the total cases world-wide doesn't exceed 60 and no one outside of laboratory research has died from being infected.
There, That is something you know now.
Sources:
-Gizmodo - "Avoid Monkeys in Florida Because They Could Give You Killer Herpes"
-CDC - Macacine Herpesvirus 1 Antibody Prevalence and DNA Shedding among Invasive Rhesus Macaques, Silver Springs State Park, Florida, USA
Damn monkeys.
I never even knew Florida had monkeys. I'm thinking about writing another article about feral monkeys in the United States - there is a crazy story I learned while researching for this article!
I wish there were monkeys in my area. We have wild turkey and some areas near me have feral chickens. I blame hipsters for the feral chickens.
Hahaha. Where are you at?
Interesting post, good info. Keep up the good work
Thanks Mark!