[Hepatitis A in Macaca fascicularis and M. arctoides infected by the Java monkey-55 strain of hepatitis A virus]

The results are presented dealing with experimental inoculation of M. fascicularis and M. arctoides with a strain of hepatitis A virus (HAV), YaM-55, isolated from a M. fascicularis with spontaneous hepatitis A, and parallel experiments on inoculation of these monkey species with HAV preparations (strain HAS-15) obtained as a result of the strain propagation in FRhK-4 cell culture and with specimens from human hepatitis A patients containing HAV particles. The YaM-55 strain of HAV was found to be capable of producing an infectious process quite similar to HA in the inoculated seronegative M. fascicularis and M. arctoides. Two different isolates of HAV derived from humans and the HAS-15 strain of HAV propagated for a long time in FRhK-4 cell culture failed to induce a disease in these monkey species. The classification of the YaM-55 strain with HAV was verified by specific serological studies and by molecular hybridization with cloned cDNA of HAV.