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.
Mie Laboratory, Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd., Japan.
E
E
Suzuki
S
S
Kaneko
T
T
Udono
T
T
Tanoue
Y
Y
Hayashi
N
N
Yoshihara
S
S
Murakami
N
N
Hattori
M
M
Hayashi
S
S
Sasaoka
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