Calicivirus isolation and persistence in a pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus).

What may be the first calicivirus isolate from any primate species, including man, was recovered from a herpesvirus-like lip lesion on a pygmy chimpanzee and then, 6 months later, from the throat of the same animal. The infected individual and its cage mates had circulating antibodies that were type-specific for this calicivirus. The agent was antigenically different from 30 other calicivirus serotypes and is tentatively designated primate calicivirus Pan paniscus type 1 (PCV-Pan 1).