Live data from Hacker News

Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

arstechnica.com

51–60 of 68 posts

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#51
post #2

Don't take this as me wanting it to happen, but what would it take for the decision to be made to kill these monkeys, and who would make it? Is there a state or federal agency that's ever determined an animal to be a threat to people in an area to the degree that they then tried to wipe it out? Does it matter that the monkeys got put here because some company thought tourists would like them?

>Is there a state or federal agency that's ever determined an animal to be a threat to people in an area to the degree that they then tried to wipe it out? In Florida alone that has happened with pythons in the everglades and lionfish in Florida oceans (at least south Florida). Edit: and African snails. And in a roundabout way mosquitos, but of the lot are not invasive to Florida.

[deleted]

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#52
post #2

Don't take this as me wanting it to happen, but what would it take for the decision to be made to kill these monkeys, and who would make it? Is there a state or federal agency that's ever determined an animal to be a threat to people in an area to the degree that they then tried to wipe it out? Does it matter that the monkeys got put here because some company thought tourists would like them?

IMO this is the most pragmatic solution. Why keep around an invasive species that carries a deadly virus?

> Why keep around an invasive species that carries a deadly virus?

They’re not invasive, and not a single person in history has died from being bitten by a wild monkey with herpes b despite thousands of people being bitten per year.

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the solution is typically implemented with a bounty program which is known to result in the intentional release of more of the invasive species to collect more rewards.

That scenario might have happened with e.g. "wild" hogs, but where are the fraudsters going to get a bunch of non-native monkeys? They aren't available at the local livestock auction...

Same. Capture a few and have them breed and collect the reward for the offsprings.

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anybody's claiming that having HSV is better than not having HSV, but the fact is that it's incredibly common. It's been with us for millennia and it's not going anywhere until medicine and technology figure out a way to wipe it out. To quote herpes.com stats: > By the time they're teenagers or young adults, about 50% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies in their blood. By the time they are over age 50, s…

In your own words you stated: > It's not life altering in any way besides the fact that HSV2 has such a strong stigma ... It is potentially quite life-altering, and you may agree with me after you're over 60 years old. If you instead asserted "it hasn't been life-altering in any way so far besides..." then I wouldn't have replied at all. Adding a persistent genital herpes outbreak to six months of shingles in old age…

In the other commenter's defence, HSV is not life-altering for most people. IIRC, most people who carry HSV experience no symptoms (although that may not take into account the potential risk for Alzheimers later).

For a not-insignificant minority, HSV is life-altering. Both for the reasons you've mentioned, and also for increased instance of suicide, and increased risk of infant mortality if the mother is experiencing an outbreak during birth.

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That scenario might have happened with e.g. "wild" hogs, but where are the fraudsters going to get a bunch of non-native monkeys? They aren't available at the local livestock auction...

Same. Capture a few and have them breed and collect the reward for the offsprings.

How many Floridians would hear about wild animals with horrible deadly diseases and think "I need to start breeding these in my basement"?

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd pay a pretty penny for a cure, or total suppression of transmission. It's not life altering in any way besides the fact that HSV2 has such a strong stigma in the US and tends to turn away a non insignificant number of romantic partners. From a health perspective, I had a rash once in my life and basically entirely forgot about even having it (outside of taking 800mg of Acyclovir every day), but from a social pers…

You're ignoring how life-altering it becomes as one ages and the immune system declines. I've had elderly relatives down with shingles, caused by the herpes virus, for months . Their shingles being a very latent reappearance of Chickenpox acquired in childhood. These viruses are opportunistic, and you will grow weaker in time, if you don't die first. The stigma, in this case, is appropriate in my opinion. It surprise…

Can you provide a source other than anecdotes of relatives?

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Capture a few and have them breed and collect the reward for the offsprings.

How many Floridians would hear about wild animals with horrible deadly diseases and think "I need to start breeding these in my basement"?

A lot, actually. Florida has lots of old people, rednecks, and drug addicts.

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Capture a few and have them breed and collect the reward for the offsprings.

How many Floridians would hear about wild animals with horrible deadly diseases and think "I need to start breeding these in my basement"?

Florida is the gateway to the America’s. It’s how all these invasive species got here in the first place.

People breed alligators in their bathtubs, release giant pythons. Maybe they don’t need to breed the moneys but do things to support their population growth (kill predators if any, leave food, etc...) or they can breed monkey without the disease. The invasive monkeys did get here and released in the first place after all.

Re: Wild monkeys with killer herpes are breeding like crazy in Florida

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Capture a few and have them breed and collect the reward for the offsprings.

How many Floridians would hear about wild animals with horrible deadly diseases and think "I need to start breeding these in my basement"?

Based on my visits to my parents down there, and other visits over the years, my tourist slogan for Florida is “The Land of Bad Ideas”. You won’t see it at Disney World, but seems to me that FL attracts folks that tend to not think things through to their conclusion.

So to answer your question: more than you might think.

Post reply on HN