Studies on the transmission of human hepatitis A virus to stump-tailed monkey.

The newly-caught stump-tailed monkeys (Macaca speciosa) with negative antibody to hepatitis A were inoculated with human hepatitis A virus. The following findings were observed in the monkeys after inoculation: (i) the elevation of activities of the serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase and its isoenzyme (LDH5), (ii) the seroconversion of antibody to hepatitis A virus. (iii) the shedding of hepatitis A antigen in feces. These findings show that the stump-tailed monkey (Macaca speciosa) is susceptible to infection of human hepatitis A virus. The virus recovered from the feces of the infected monkey, named as Hang-zhou A-1A strain of hepatitis A virus, has experienced two generations of successful transmission in monkeys.