Ehlers B, Ochs A, Leendertz FH, Goltz M, Boesch C, Mätz-Rensing K (2003): Novel simian homologues of Epstein-Barr virus Thirty different lymphocryptoviruses (LCV), 26 of them novel, were detected in primates using a pan-herpes PCR assay. Nineteen LCV from chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and other Old World primates were closely related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the 'type species' of the genus Lymphocryptovirus. Seven LCV originating from New World primates were related to callithrichine herpesvirus 3 (CalHV-3), the first recognized New World LCV. Importantly, a second LCV from gorillas and three LCV from orang utans and gibbons were only distantly related to EBV and CalHV-3. They were tentatively assigned to a novel genogroup of Old World primate LCV. The work described in the paper may also help identify an as yet unknown human LCV.
J. Virol. 77: 10695-10699.
