Chimpanzees do not appear to become ill from dengue infection. As with many other viral diseases which afflict humans, chimpanzees can harbor the virus, but it does not cause a similar illness in them. (1)
Dengue (pronounced deng - ay) fever is a viral disease that is endemic to tropical and sub-tropical areas. It is transmitted by mosquitoes that carry any one of four viral strains for the disease. Dengue fever used to be called “break-bone fever” because it can cause severe joint and muscle pain. Other symptoms include an extremely high fever, severe headache, rash, pain behind the eyes, nausea and vomiting. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), with minimal treatment – bed rest, fluids, acetaminophen – “most people recover completely within 2 weeks.” (2)
Research using chimpanzees
Dengue research using chimpanzees is presently conducted at NIAID under Dr. Ching-Juh Lai. Dr. Lai is employed by the National Institutes of Health, but the chimpanzees are housed at BIOQUAL, Inc., a private laboratory in Rockville, Maryland. This research requires that the chimpanzees undergo intrahepatic inoculation [inoculation directly into the liver] of the dengue virus followed by regular blood-draws and also several bone marrow biopsies. (3)
The following three abstracts describe federally funded projects by Dr. Lai, starting in 2000 and running through at least 2004.
Current Federally Funded Projects Using Chimpanzees for Dengue Research
| Researcher: | Ching-Juh Lai |
| Grant No. | 1Z01AI000682-09, -10, -11 |
| Project: | Recovery: Chimpanzee Dengue Type 4 Neutralizing Antibody |
| Institution: | NIAID |
| Project runs: | 2001, 2002, 2003 |
| Funding: | Unavailable |
| Researcher: | Ching-Juh Lai |
| Grant No. | 1Z01AI000682-12 |
| Project: | Humanized Antibodies Derived from Chimpanzee Fabs that N |
| Institution: | NIAID |
| Project runs: | 2004 |
| Funding: | Unavailable |
Last update: 1/11/06
Sources
(1) Harrison VR, Eckels KH, et al. 1977 Virulence and immunogenicity of a temperature-sensitive dengue-2 virus in lower primates. Infect Immun. Oct;18(1):151-6.
(2) Dengue Fever Fact Sheet, NIAID, January 2002. Available at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/dengue.htm
(3) Men R, Yamashiro T, et al. 2004 Identification of chimpanzee Fab fragments by repertoire cloning and production of a full-length humanized immunoglobulin G1 antibody that is highly efficient for neutralization of dengue type 4 virus. J Virol May;78(9):4665-74