FW: PRO/AH/EDR> Simian foamy virus - Bangladesh: monkey to human transmission

[Maffei, Joanne]

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Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Simian foamy virus - Bangladesh: monkey to human transmission


SIMIAN FOAMY VIRUS - BANGLADESH: MONKEY TO HUMAN TRANSMISSION
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Date: Tue 10 Sep 2013
Source: Vaccine News Daily [edited]
<http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/medical_countermeasures/327161-simian-foamy-virus-found-to-be-passed-from-monkeys-to-humans/>


A research team from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Jahangirnagar University [Bangladesh] announced on Wednesday [4 Sep 2013?] that they found humans in Bangladesh who were infected with strains of simian foamy virus. The researchers were studying the transmission of a virus from monkeys to humans in Bangladesh, where there is close interaction between humans and monkeys. They found that some strains of simian foamy virus, a retrovirus like HIV [human immunodeficiency virus] eventually showed up in some human subjects.

"If we want to understand how, where and why these primate viruses are being transmitted, we need to be looking at SFV in Asia where millions of people and tens of thousands of macaques are interacting everyday and where we estimate that thousands of people could be infected with strains of SFV," Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist with the National Primate Research Center at the University of Washington and the project leader, said. "These Asian rhesus macaques are Darwinian superstars. They are very responsive to change, and, unlike many other species of primates, they are going to continue to thrive in human-altered habitats."

The researchers collected biological samples from hundreds of people.
In preliminary data, the researchers discovered that most of the transmissions came from bites. SFV replicates in oral tissue and is secreted in saliva, making transmission from bites the most common source.

"Despite the fact that SFV is currently not known to be pathogenic, this was also the case for SIV before recombination and mutation allowed infection of and transmission between new hosts," Maxine Linial, a retrovirologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said. "The possibility that a pathogenic SFV strain could arise makes it essential to monitor natural infections. If a viral strain with pathogenic potential arises, we will know about it early rather than too late, which was the situation with the emergence of HIV."

[Byline: Daniel Kamin]

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[Simian foamy virus (SFV) belongs to the genus _Spumavirus_ in the family _Retroviridae_. Transmission of SFV to humans, although infrequent, has been reported previously (see: Jones-Engel L, Engel GA, Schillaci MA, Aida Rompis A, Putra A, Suaryana KG, et al.
Primate-to-human retroviral transmission in Asia. Emerg Infect Dis 2005; 11(7): Jul <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no07/04-0957.htm>). The virus is not known to be transmissible from human to human.

Spumaviruses are widespread and found in many mammals. In the moderator's experience, feline syncytium-forming virus is one of the easiest viruses to isolate from normal cats. These viruses induce a syncytial (foamy) cytopathology. None are known to carry oncogenes. - Mod.CP

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at:
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[see also:
2005
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Simian foamy virus, human - Asia 20050720.2095
2004
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Simian foamy virus, blood transmission - Canada 20041025.2889 Simian foamy virus, humans - Cameroon 20040319.0774 Simian foamy virus, humans - Cameroon (02) 20040322.0800
2001
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Simian foamy virus, humans - Canada 20010630.1245] .................................................sb/cp/msp/ml
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