AN ANIMAL-MODEL FOR ACUTE AND PERSISTENT EPSTEIN-BARR-VIRUS INFECTION

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human lymphocryptovirus that causes infe ctious mononucleosis, persists asymptomatically for life in nearly all adults, and is associated with the development of B cell lymphomas an d nasopharyngeal carcinomas. A highly similar rhesus lymphocryptovirus naturally endemic in rhesus monkeys was used to orally inject naive a nimals from a pathogen-free colony. This animal model reproduced key a spects of human EBV injection, including oral transmission, atypical l ymphocytosis, lymphadenopathy, activation of CD23(+) peripheral blood B cells, sustained serologic responses to lytic and latent EBV antigen s, latent infection in the peripheral blood, and virus persistence in oropharyngeal secretions. This system may be useful for studying the p athogenesis, prevention, and treatment of EBV infection and associated oncogenesis.