EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES OF LATENT VIRUS INFECTIONS IN CAPTIVE MONKEYS AND BABOONS .I. OVERALL PLANS AND VIRUS VIRUS ISOLATIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SV40 AND FOAMY VIRUSES

From February, 1966 through April, 1967 the kidney tissues of 253 rhesus monkeys, 216 green monkeys and 15 baboons obtained from two biological laboratories were studied for the presence of SV40 and foamy virus infections. Apparently cross contamination occurred during captivity. Of the 469 monkeys studied, 266 virus isolations were made from their kidney tissues. SV40 appeared more frequently in green monkey tissues than in rhesus while foamy viruses were more commonly found in the rhesus kidney tissues than in the green monkeys. An overall 50% rate of virus isolation was made in both rhesus and green monkey kidney cell cultures during the entire study period, but SV5 was completely absent. Of the 13 lots of baboon kidney cultures examined, two viruses were isolated but the number of baboons examined was too small to warrant any conclusions. © 1969 by The Johns Hopkins University.