A brief history of the discovery of natural simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections in captive sooty mangabey monkeys.
Experimental leprosy studies using Mycobacterium leprae inoculum isolated from a sooty mangabey monkey (SMM) resulted in the accidental discovery that SMM's asymptomatically carry simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) that is pathogenic in macaques. We showed that the SMM virus, SIVDelta, was antigenically related to SIVmac, which had been identified in macaques, and to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Similar asymptomatic natural SIV infections had been reported in African green monkeys (AGM). Our results together with observations of others led us to propose that both SIVmac and SIVDelta originated in SMM and that SIV emerged in humans as a result of early African nonhuman primate SIV trans-species infections in humans.
Gormus
Bobby J
BJ
Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, 18703 Three Rivers Road, Covington, LA 70433, USA. gormus@tpc.tulane.edu
Martin
Louis N
LN
Baskin
Gary B
GB
D000818:Animals; D016665:Cercocebus atys; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D007918:Leprosy / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000150:complications; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*