Epizootic of Simian Haemorrhagic Fever

Two epizootics of simian haemorrhagic fever ( SHF ) have been reported among quarantined Indian rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ). The first outbreak occurred in July 1964 at the Sukhumi Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy, USSR 1,2 ; the second occurred in October 1964 at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) quarantine colony 3,4 . The virus causing the NIH epizootic was isolated in cell culture and characterized 5 . Although the Soviet workers showed that the disease could be transmitted from monkey to monkey, they have not yet isolated the causative agent in either cell culture or small laboratory animals. This report describes the isolation in cell culture of the virus causing the Sukhumi epizootic and the serological relationship between the viruses causing the Sukhumi and NIH outbreaks.