Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This is a publication of the U. This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited. To determine whether nonhuman primates are infected with influenza viruses in nature, we conducted serologic and swab studies among macaques from several parts of the world.
Our detection of influenza virus and antibodies to influenza virus raises questions about the role of nonhuman primates in the ecology of influenza. Keywords: influenza A virus, avian influenza virus, prevalence, nonhuman primates, Macaca, macaque, influenza, viruses, zoonoses.
Worldwide, infections with influenza A viruses are associated with substantial illness and death among mammals and birds. Public health and research have placed major focus on understanding the pathogenicity of different influenza virus strains and characterizing new influenza vaccines. Nonhuman primates NHPs , including macaques, have become popular experimental models for studying the pathogenesis and immunology of seasonal and emerging influenza viruses.
NHPs readily seroconvert after experimental inoculation with seasonal influenza virus and have been used to test candidate vaccines for strains of human and avian origin.
Like humans, macaques infected with influenza virus exhibit fever, malaise, nasal discharge, and nonproductive cough; virus replication can be detected in the nasal passages and respiratory tract 1 , 2. However, whether NHPs are infected with influenza viruses in nature remains unknown.
