Occurrence of a carrier state for Herpesvirus tamarinus in Marmosets

The ecology of herpesviruses in marmosets and other nonhuman primates is important today, for colonies of these animals are being established for biomedical research. This paper presents the first reported isolations of Herpesvirus tamarinus from throat swabs of a healthy white-lipped marmoset carrier (Saguinus nigricollis) during a 2-month period. Infectivity studies with this virus in both white-moustached (S. mystax) and white-lipped marmosets demonstrated that the virus is not lethal to white-moustached marmosets (perhaps a more resistant species) at 1,000 TCID(50). Which environmental conditions trigger the unmasking of herpesviruses in marmosets is not known. Hoever, intermittent H. tamarinus shedding may help explain spontaneous infections in established colonies as well as suggest an additional mechanism for transmission of virus between marmosets under natural conditions.