Search for antigens and antibodies crossreactive with type C viruses of the woolly monkey and gibbon ape in animal models and in humans

Several reports have indicated the presence of type C viral antigens in human tumors and of viruses closely related to those of the woolly monkey and gibbon ape in cultured human cells. In the present studies, attempts to detect woolly monkey viral antigens in human tissues, or antibodies directed against structural polypeptides of woolly monkey viruses in human sera, were unsuccessful. In contrast, it was possible to demonstrate viral antigens in tissues and antibodies reactive to viral components in several animal and even primate model systems. Further evidence against the presence of woolly monkey viruses in humans is the failure to identify spontaneous or chemically induced viruses of this group in more than 200 individual cultures of human origin examined. These findings argue against the likelihood that viruses closely related to the woolly monkey virus are associated with human tumors or are common infectious agents of man.