ISOLATION OF A HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE 1-LIKE AGENT FROM THE BRAIN OF A MOUNTAIN AGILE GIBBON (HYLOBATES AGILIS AGILIS) WITH ENCEPHALITIS

A captive-born 2-yr-old male mountain agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis a gilis) that died of encephalitis harbored a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1)-like agent in the brain. A complete necropsy revealed intensi ve meningeal congestion with nonsuppurative encephalitis. The virus wa s recovered from frozen brain tissue in Vero cells. The isolate was ve ry similar but not identical to human HSV1. Both western blot assay an d virus neutralization tests were done with sera from 15 gibbons. Anti bodies against HSV1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) were detect ed in four healthy gibbons, which included four species in three subge nera.