Epstein-Barr virus and nonhuman primates: natural and experimental infection.

Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes the interrelationships between Epstein-Barr herpes virus (EBV) and primates other than man. It also discusses the aspects of the discovery of the virus, its association with Burkitt lymphoma, infectious mononucleosis, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and its biologic properties studied in vitro . The studies of EBV in nonhuman primates have been useful in many respects. They have provided clues about the evolution of this highly adapted human parasite. Infection of nonhuman primate cells in vitro has yielded a regular source of cell-free virus for laboratory studies and has also clearly demonstrated the importance of host-specified control mechanisms in the regulation of the expression of viral information in transformed cells. The experimental infection of primates was successful once adequate amounts of transforming virus were available and once the virus host range was better defined by the means of in vitro transformation. Subsequent study allowed a direct demonstration of the capacity of EBV to cause lymphoreticuloproliferative disease. The identification of susceptible primate hosts now offers promise of the detailed analysis of the pathogenesis of EBV-induced disease and of the comparison of the pathogenic properties of different EBV-related viruses.