Evidence for an alpha-herpesvirus indigenous to mountain gorillas.

Sera from wild mountain gorillas were screened for antibodies reactive with primate alpha-herpesviruses. Four of seven individuals tested (58%) were positive. In all four sera the highest titers were to HSV-2 followed by HSV-1 and SA8. Immunoblot analysis confirmed a preferential reactivity with HSV-2 antigen. Further analysis by competition ELISA indicated that these gorillas had experienced infection with a virus antigenically similar but not identical to HSV-2. These results represent the first evidence for an alpha-herpesvirus indigenous in a free ranging, nonhuman anthropoid species.