Arteriviridae Monkey Virus on Verge of Infecting Humans

Author: University of Colorado at Boulder
Published: 2022/10/02 - Updated: 2025/08/28
Publication Details: Peer-Reviewed, Announcement
Category Topic: Mpox Virus - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates

Synopsis: This research details how simian arteriviruses, which are widespread in wild African primates and can trigger deadly hemorrhagic fevers in some monkeys, are now shown to be capable of infecting human cells in lab tests, raising concerns about potential spillover events similar to how HIV jumped from primates to people. Led by experts at the University of Colorado Boulder, the study reveals that these viruses use a specific receptor to enter cells, replicate efficiently, and evade certain immune defenses, though no human cases have been documented yet. This information stands out as authoritative because it draws from rigorous lab experiments and historical parallels to known pandemics, offering practical value by highlighting the need for better surveillance and diagnostic tools to catch early infections. It's particularly helpful for vulnerable groups like seniors or those with disabilities, who may face higher risks from emerging diseases due to compromised immune systems, providing them with awareness to advocate for proactive health measures and stay informed on global threats that could affect accessibility to care - Disabled World (DW).

Introduction

An obscure family of viruses, already endemic in wild African primates and known to cause fatal Ebola-like symptoms in some monkeys, is "poised for spillover" to humans, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research published online Sept. 30 in the journal Cell.

Main Content

While such arteriviruses are already considered a critical threat to macaque monkeys, no human infections have been reported to date. And it is uncertain what impact the virus would have on people should it jump species.

But the authors, evoking parallels to HIV (the precursor of which originated in African monkeys), are calling for vigilance nonetheless: By watching for arteriviruses now, in both animals and humans, the global health community could potentially avoid another pandemic, they said.

"This animal virus has figured out how to gain access to human cells, multiply itself, and escape some of the important immune mechanisms we would expect to protect us from an animal virus. That's pretty rare," said senior author Sara Sawyer, a molecular, cellular, and developmental biology professor at CU Boulder. "We should be paying attention to it."

Thousands of unique viruses are circulating among animals around the globe, most of them causing no symptoms. In recent decades, increasing numbers have jumped to humans, wreaking havoc on naïve immune systems with no experience fighting them off: That includes Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003, and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in 2020.

For 15 years, Sawyer's lab has used laboratory techniques and tissue samples from wildlife from around the globe to explore which animal viruses may be prone to jump to humans.

For the latest study, she and first author Cody Warren, then a postdoctoral fellow at the BioFrontiers Institute at CU, zeroed in on arteriviruses, which are common among pigs and horses but understudied among nonhuman primates. They looked specifically at simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV), which causes a lethal disease similar to Ebola virus disease and has caused deadly outbreaks in captive macaque colonies dating back to the 1960s.

The study demonstrates that a molecule, or receptor called CD163, plays a key role in the biology of simian arteriviruses, enabling the virus to invade and cause infection of target cells. To their surprise, the researchers discovered through a series of laboratory experiments that the virus was also remarkably adept at latching on to the human version of CD163, getting inside human cells and swiftly making copies of itself.

Like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its precursor simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), simian arteriviruses also appear to attack immune cells, disabling key defense mechanisms and taking hold in the body long-term.

"The similarities are profound between this virus and the simian viruses that gave rise to the HIV pandemic," said Warren, now an assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University.

The authors stress that another pandemic is not imminent, and the public need not be alarmed.

But they suggest that the global health community prioritize further the study of simian arteriviruses, develop blood antibody tests for them, and consider surveillance of human populations with close contact with animal carriers.

A broad range of African monkeys already carries high viral loads of diverse arteriviruses, often without symptoms. Some species frequently interact with humans and are known to bite and scratch people.

"Just because we haven't diagnosed a human arterivirus infection yet doesn't mean that no human has been exposed. We haven't been looking," said Warren.

Warren and Sawyer note that in the 1970s, no one had heard of HIV either.

Researchers now know that HIV likely originated from SIVs infecting nonhuman primates in Africa, likely jumping to humans sometime in the early 1900s. When it began killing young men in the 1980s in the United States, no serology test existed, and no treatments were in the works.

Sawyer said there is no guarantee that these simian arteriviruses will jump to humans. But one thing is sure: More viruses will jump to humans and cause disease.

"COVID is just the latest in a long string of spillover events from animals to humans, some of which have erupted into global catastrophes," Sawyer said. "We hope that by raising awareness of the viruses we should be looking out for, we can get ahead of this so that if human infections begin to occur, we're on it quickly."

Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Attribution/Source(s): This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by University of Colorado at Boulder and published on 2022/10/02, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.