Virus isolations by the NIH and WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Research in Simian Viruses

Many epidemiologic studies have shown that a large percentage of monkeys regardless of their state of health have virus inhabiting their upper respiratory and intestinal tracts. The presence of these viruses could cause problems in carrying out certain experiments and in the collection of tissues for primary cell cultures. Therefore, monitoring of the viral flora of a simian colony should be a continual program. Not only could the information gained in baseline studies be of importance in selecting a particular animal or species for specific research programs, but could also be of great importance in epidemiologic studies of any viral disease outbreaks in the colony. During the calendar years 1977 and 1978, the NIH and WHO Reference Center for Simian Virology at SFRE examined a total of 5202 simian throat and rectal swabs with 630 viral isolations. There were 301 adenoviruses, 179 enteroviruses, 82 foamyviruses, 35 reoviruses, 6 herpesviruses, 7 papovaviruses, and 20 mixed isolates. The specimens and isolates have been compared by species, month and day of week collected, and program (normal or clinical).