Response of marmosets to experimental infection with Epstein-Barr virus.

The response of cotton-topped (CT) or white-lipped (WL) marmosets, inoculated with material containing Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), was studied. Twenty-five marmosets inoculated with 10(6)-10(8) cells from human or simian EBV-carrying lymphoblastoid cell cultures developed no detectable clinical disease. Transitory antibody titres to VCA were detected in sera from several of these marmosets. Thirty-eight marmosets inoculated with P3 virus (10(9) particles) and seven marmosets inoculated with 10(5) infectious units of HR-1 virus likewise developed no recognizable clinical or haematological disease over several years of observation. Fourteen marmosets were inoculated with 10(2)-10(4) transforming units (TFU) of EBV strain B95-8; five of 11 animals inoculated with 10(3)-10(4) TFU of virus developed malignant lymphoma and died 31-110 days PI. Antibodies to one or more EBV-specified antigens were detected in sera from nine of the inoculated marmosets. EBV-carrying lymphoblastoid cell cultures were established from the spleen and lymph-nodes of one animal that died with malignant lymphoma and from another animal that died 19 days PI from undetermined causes.