Isolation and characterization of a new simian foamy virus serotype from lymphocytes of a Papio cynocephalus baboon.

A new type of syncytium-forming (foamy) virus was isolated from peripheral lymphocytes of a Papio cynocephalus baboon after cocultivation with a rhesus monkey cell line. The isolate was characterized by cytopathogenic effect, host range, electron microscopy, reverse transcriptase activity and physical and chemical properties. Seroneutralization tests indicate that the new isolate is antigenically distinct from the other nine known simian foamy virus serotypes.