Xenotransplantation and the risk of retroviral zoonosis.
It is hypothesized that xenotransplantation could facilitate the emergence of new human pathogens. Retroviruses might pose the greatest public health risk because of the possibility of undetected transmission within a population. Evidence from naturally occurring retroviral zoonoses and cross-species infections by animal retroviruses provides a basis for reasoned speculation on the risks posed by xenotransplantation.
Brown
J
J
HIV/Retrovirus Diseases Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Matthews
A L
AL
Sandstrom
P A
PA
Chapman
L E
LE
D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D012192:Retroviridae Infections; D012307:Risk Factors; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D015047:Zoonoses