Epidemiological survey of a captive Chinese rhesus macaque breeding colony in Yunnan for SRV, STLV and BV

Nonhuman primates are critical resources for biomedical research. Rhesus macaque is a popularly used laboratory nonhuman primate that share many characteristics with humans. However, rhesus macaques are the natural host of two exogenous retroviruses, SRV (simian type D retrovirus) and STLV (simian T lymphotropic virus). SRV and STLV may introduce potentially significant confounding factors into the study of AIDS model. Moreover, B virus (ceropithecine herpesvirus 1) is likely to harm not only rhesus macaque but also humans in experiments involving rhesus macaque. Yunnan province has large-scale breeding colonies of Chinese rhesus macaque. Therefore there is an urgent need for SPF Chinese rhesus macaque colonies. Here we investigated SRV, STLV and BV infections in 411 Chinese rhesus macaque by PCR technique. The results showed that the prevalence of SRV, STLV and BV among Chinese rhesus macaque breeding colony was 19.71% (81/411), 13.38% (55/411) and 23.11% (95/411), respectively. Comparison of viruses infection in different age-groups and male/female of Chinese rhesus macaque was also analyzed. This study will contribute to establishment of SPF Chinese rhesus macaque breeding colony.