Isolation and genetic characterization of encephalomyocarditis virus 1 from a deceased captive hamadryas baboon.

In 2007, numerous hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) died suddenly in an aviary of a primate institute in Sochi, Russia, in the absence of prior clinical signs. Necropsies were suggestive of encephalomyocarditis virus infection, but RT-PCR assays with commonly used primers were negative. Here we report the histopathological results obtained during necropsies and the isolation and genomic characterization of a divergent strain of encephalomyocarditis virus 1 (EMCV-1) from heart tissue of one of the succumbed hamadryas baboons.

Transplantation of Simian Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Baboons with Experimentally Induced Myocardial Infarction.

Culture of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from the bone marrow of primates by their characteristics met the requirements of stem cells. It was shown that transplantation of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (2 million cells per 1 kg body weight) immediately after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery between the middle and upper thirds led to neovascularization and capillarization of the ischemic myocardium.