Calicivirus isolation from three species of primates: an incidental finding

Calicivirus isolations were made from 3 species of subhuman primates. Viruses were recovered from gingival lesions associated with periodontal disease in a spider monkey, from the oropharynx of a healthy silver leaf langur, and from the spleen of a lowland gorilla that had died of systemic coccidioidomycosis. Based on the results of cross-neutralization tests, all 3 isolates were serologically indistinguishable from a primate calicivirus Pan paniscus type 1. These isolations appeared to be incidental in nature and could not be associated causally with any specific disease entity.