Zoonotic Potential of Simian Arteriviruses

Wild nonhuman primates are immediate sources and long-term reservoirs of human pathogens. However, ethical and technical challenges have hampered the identification of novel blood-borne pathogens in these animals. We recently examined RNA viruses in plasma from wild African monkeys and discovered several novel, highly divergent viruses belonging to the family Arteriviridae. Close relatives of these viruses, including simian hemorrhagic fever virus, have caused sporadic outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fever in captive macaque monkeys since the 1960s. However, arterivirus infection in wild nonhuman primates had not been described prior to 2011. The arteriviruses recently identified in wild monkeys have high sequence and host species diversity, maintain high viremia, and are prevalent in affected populations. Taken together, these features suggest that the simian arteriviruses may be "preemergent" zoonotic pathogens. If not, this would imply that biological characteristics of RNA viruses thought to facilitate zoonotic transmission may not, by themselves, be sufficient for such transmission to occur.