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Identification of a human population infected with simian foamy viruses

Nature Medicine volume 4, pages 403–407 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Studying the transmission of simian retroviruses to humans can help define the importance of these infections to public health. We identified a substantial prevalence (4/231, 1.8%) of infection with simian foamy viruses (SFV) among humans occupationally exposed to nonhuman primates. Evidence of SFV infection included seropositivity, proviral DNA detection and isolation of foamy virus. The infecting SFV originated from an African green monkey (one person) and baboons (three people). These infections have not as yet resulted in either disease or sexual transmission, and may represent benign end point infections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HIV and Retrovirology Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA

    Walid Heneine, William M. Switzer, Paul Sandstrom, Jennifer Brown, Shanmugam Vedapuri, Louisa E. Chapman & Thomas M. Folks

  2. Immunology and Diagnostics Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333, USA

    Charles A. Schable

  3. Laboratory ofRetrovirus Research, Center for Biologies Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Arifa S. Khan

  4. Simian Retrovirus Laboratory, California Regional Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, California, 95616-8542, USA

    Nicholas W. Lerche

  5. Department of Virology, University of Freiburg, D-79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Matthias Schweizer & Dieter Neumann-Haefelin

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  1. Walid Heneine
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Heneine, W., Switzer, W., Sandstrom, P. et al. Identification of a human population infected with simian foamy viruses. Nat Med 4, 403–407 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0498-403

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