RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 El Mubarak, H. Sittana A1 YĆ¼ksel, Selma A1 van Amerongen, Geert A1 Mulder, Paul G. H. A1 Mukhtar, Maowia M. A1 Osterhaus, Albert D. M. E. A1 de Swart, Rik L.YR 2007 T1 Infection of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with different wild-type measles viruses JF Journal of General Virology, VO 88 IS 7 SP 2028 OP 2034 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.82804-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Both rhesus and cynomolgus macaques have been used as animal models for measles vaccination and immunopathogenesis studies. A number of studies have suggested that experimental measles virus (MV) infection induces more-characteristic clinical features in rhesus than in cynomolgus monkeys. In the present study, both macaque species were infected with two different wild-type MV strains and clinical, virological and immunological parameters were compared. The viruses used were a genotype C2 virus isolated in The Netherlands in 1991 (MV-Bil) and a genotype B3 virus isolated from a severe measles case in Sudan in 1997 (MV-Sudan). Following infection, all rhesus monkeys developed a skin rash and conjunctivitis, which were less obvious in cynomolgus monkeys. Fever was either mild or absent in both species. Virus reisolation profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and broncho-alveolar lavage cells and the kinetics of MV-specific IgM and IgG responses were largely identical in the two animal species. However, in animals infected with MV-Sudan, viraemia appeared earlier and lasted longer than in animals infected with MV-Bil. This was also reflected by the earlier appearance of MV-specific serum IgM antibodies after infection with MV-Sudan. Collectively, these data show that cynomolgus and rhesus macaques are equally susceptible to wild-type MV infection, although infection in the skin seems to follow a different course in rhesus macaques. MV-Sudan proved more pathogenic for non-human primates than MV-Bil, which may render it more suitable for use in future pathogenesis studies., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.82804-0