Monkey Model of HIV

Macaques infected with simian or simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SIV/SHIV) develop a disease, called simian AIDS, that resembles HIV infection and AIDS in humans. Monkeys and humans have also similar physiology, drug metabolism, placentation and fetal development. Because of these many similarities, SIV/SHIV infection of macaques has become a very relevant animal model of HIV/AIDS to study all aspects of viral infection and disease development, and to test intervention strategies.