Primate virus found in zoo workers.Viruses related to HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. can be found in the blood of some zoo staff and other people who work with primates, although the infections don't appear to be harmful. "Simian retroviruses are actively crossing into human populations," says Walid M. Heneine of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. in Atlanta. HIV, a retrovirus retrovirus, type of RNA virus that, unlike other RNA viruses, reproduces by transcribing itself into DNA. An enzyme called reverse transcriptase allows a retrovirus's RNA to act as the template for this RNA-to-DNA transcription. with several variants, evolved from simian immunodeficiency virus Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is a retrovirus that is found, in numerous strains, in primates; the specific strains infecting humans are HIV-1 and HIV-2, the viruses that cause AIDS. The origin of HIV is now generally attributed to SIV from African primates. (SIV). Other retroviruses known to infect primates include simian type D retrovirus, simian T-cell lymphotropic virus, and simian foamy virus The simian foamy virus (SFV) is a spumavirus closely related to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Its discovery in primates has led to some speculation that HIV may have been spread to the human species in Africa through contact with blood from apes and monkeys through hunting (SFV). The researchers tested blood from 418 primate handlers at 15 zoos and animal-research centers for signs of simian retroviruses. They found evidence of SFV infection in 14 volunteers, SIV infection in two who had previously tested positive for that virus, and exposure to the type D virus in two eases. Genetic tests indicate that the viruses came from chimpanzees, baboons, and an African green monkey. No symptom appears linked to the SFV infections in people, and tests of stored blood samples show that some apparently healthy volunteers have been infected for as long as 26 years. Of six primate handlers' spouses tested, none is infected. The findings nevertheless underscore the potential for dangerous viruses to spread from primates to people, Heneine and his colleagues say. In a separate study designed to examine the prevalence of SIV in the wild, University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB began in 1936 as the Birmingham Extension Center of the University of Alabama. Because of the rapid growth of the Birmingham area, it was decided that an extension program for students who had difficulties which prevented them from studying in Tuscaloosa was needed. scientists following a troop of sooty mangabeys in Cameroon found that 64 percent of the monkeys were infected. The virus doesn't appear to harm the animals, but it is closely related to HIV-2, which is deadly in people.--B.H. |
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