Colorado [US]: According to new University of Colorado Boulder research published online Sept. 30 in the journal Cell, an unknown family of viruses that is currently prevalent in wild African primates and known to cause lethal Ebola-like symptoms in certain monkeys is "poised for spillover" to people.
Despite the fact that such arteriviruses are already regarded as a serious hazard to macaque monkeys, no human infections have been observed to date. It is also unknown what effect the virus might have on humans if it jumped species.
However, the scientists, drawing analogies to HIV (the forerunner of which arose in African monkeys), urge caution: The global health community might potentially avoid another pandemic by monitoring for arteriviruses in both animals and humans now, scientists suggested.
"This animal virus has worked out how to get into human cells, reproduce, and avoid some of the crucial immune responses that we would anticipate to protect us from an animal virus."
