Isolation of SV40 from the environment of a colony of cynomolgus monkeys naturally infected with the virus

The presence of SV40 viral particles in the environment of cynomolgus monkeys naturally infected with this virus has been analyzed by testing waste of the cage samples. SV40 was detected in 2/4 cages tested where mixed infection of SV40 and adenoviruses was observed after inoculation of virions concentrated from cage waste in CV-1 cells. The detected SV40 strains were identical in the regions studied to strain W17, isolated at National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, UK (NIBSC) from a (1/19) monkey kidney biopsy and contains an archetypal regulatory region. The recovery of infectious SV40 virions from the cages provides information about the potential mechanism of transmission of this virus.