Absence of nonpercutaneous transmission of hepatitis C virus in a colony of chimpanzees.
Transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was studied in a colony of 85 chimpanzees using assays for anti-HCV and HCV-RNA. Thirteen of the 85 sera were positive for anti-HCV, and 12 of the 13 were also positive for HCV-RNA. All of the anti-HCV positive sera except one were obtained from chimpanzees which had been inoculated with non-A, non-B hepatitis virus. On the other hand, only one of 63 sera of chimpanzees without history of experimental infection of the virus was positive for anti-HCV. Transmission to this chimpanzee was thought to be a needle contaminated with HCV. All 39 samples of chimpanzees born in the center were negative for both anti-HCV and HCV-RNA. Sixteen of their mothers had undergone experimental infection, and 6 of them were positive for both anti-HCV and HCV-RNA. These results suggest that nonpercutaneous transmission, including sexual and mother-to-infant transmissions, is not an important mode of transmission. If these findings apply to humans, definition of inapparent sources of the infection is needed.
Suzuki
E
E
Mie Laboratory, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd., Japan.
Kaneko
S
S
Udono
T
T
Tanoue
T
T
Hayashi
Y
Y
Yoshihara
N
N
Murakami
S
S
Hattori
N
N
Hayashi
M
M
Sasaoka
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001483:Base Sequence; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000635:transmission*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission
D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral