SIV Transmission in Natural Hosts
The prevalence of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection dramatically increases at the passage from adolescence to adult age and reach 60-70% in certain African non-human primate species that are natural hosts of SIVs, suggesting a predominantly and highly efficient sexual SIV transmission in the wild natural hosts. Other routes of SIV transmission reported in these species are through trauma due to fighting, aggressive grooming, or wound care. Interestingly, the rates of maternal-to-infant transmission (MTIT) are negligible in the natural hosts, suggesting an adaptation of the African species to protect their infants against SIV infection. Recent studies demonstrate that both maternal and infant factors are involved in this lack of SIV transmission to the offspring in the natural hosts. These observations identify new strategies to block MTIT in humans.
