Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1984. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - February 3, 1984
The new virus is one of a small family of germs called type D retroviruses and is related to the human T-cell leukemia virus, which some believe may cause AIDS.
Dr. Norman L. Letvin, one of the researchers, said they believed monkey AIDS, despite its similarities, was different from human AIDS. "We've always viewed what we are looking at as a road that is parallel with human AIDS that doesn't necessarily intersect," he said. "But learning biologically what's happening in monkeys will direct thinking as to what we should be looking at in human AIDS."
The new virus was discovered in rhesus monkeys afflicted with AIDS at the New England Regional Primate Reserch Center here. A report is being published in the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Science. Also Appeared in 1980
Monkey AIDS first appeared at the primate center, which is affiliated with Harvard, in 1980, about the same time that the human disease was identified. The monkeys' symptoms are very similar to human AIDS: disease-fighting immune systems are destroyed, and the animals develop cancer and unusual infections that healthy creatures easily ward off.
Dr. Muthiah D. Daniel, who directed the latest study, said all the monkeys at the center with AIDS also had the new virus, but it was not present in any of the 34 healthy monkeys checked so far.
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