Monkeys That Carry AIDS-Like Virus May Aid Research

African Green monkeys are carriers of a newly discovered virus that closely resembles the one believed to cause AIDS, a finding that Boston researchers say means the monkeys may be good models for studying the human disease.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health report in today’s issue of the journal Science that the virus found in the monkeys is close to the human AIDS virus.

This would support the contention that acquired immune deficiency syndrome originated in recent decades in Africa and that the disease may have resulted from a virus passing from monkeys to humans, the report indicated.

Related disease viruses have been discovered previously in other monkeys and one, called STLV-3, is known to cause a mild AIDS-like disease. The new variation of STLV-3 was isolated from seven African Green monkeys.

The researchers said the findings are worrisome because African Green monkeys are used in preparing a number of human vaccines, including much of the world’s oral polio vaccine, as well as for drugs, research and diagnosis.