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Review
. 2019 Sep 27;11(10):902.
doi: 10.3390/v11100902.

Simian Foamy Virus Co-Infections

Shannon M Murray  1 , Maxine L Linial  2
Affiliations
Review

Simian Foamy Virus Co-Infections

Shannon M Murray et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

Foamy viruses (FVs), also known as spumaretroviruses, are complex retroviruses that are seemingly nonpathogenic in natural hosts. In natural hosts, which include felines, bovines, and nonhuman primates (NHPs), a large percentage of adults are infected with FVs. For this reason, the effect of FVs on infections with other viruses (co-infections) cannot be easily studied in natural populations. Most of what is known about interactions between FVs and other viruses is based on studies of NHPs in artificial settings such as research facilities. In these settings, there is some indication that FVs can exacerbate infections with lentiviruses such as simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Nonhuman primate (NHP) simian FVs (SFVs) have been shown to infect people without any apparent pathogenicity. Humans zoonotically infected with simian foamy virus (SFV) are often co-infected with other viruses. Thus, it is important to know whether SFV co-infections affect human disease.

Keywords: NHP; co-infections; foamy virus; pathogenesis; spumaretrovirus; zoonoses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the article.

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