ABSTRACT
Nonhuman primates (NHPs) belong to the order Primata, which is composed of three suborders: Prosimii, considered as pre-primates, is rarely used in research; Anthropoidea, which contains the true primates, is divided into two infraorders: the Platyrrhine or New World (NW) monkeys and the Catarrhine, consisting of Old World (OW) monkeys, apes, and humans; and Tarsioidea, a newly recognized order, represents the bridge between pre-primates and true primates. The common marmoset has been used extensively in infectious disease research and is probably the most widely used NW monkey in drug development and preclinical studies. Marmosets are highly susceptible to herpes simplex virus-1 encephalitis and have been used to model hepatitis A virus, malaria and measles. Blood from NHPs can be collected from a number of venipuncture sites depending on the size of the animal, the method of restraint, and the sample volume required.
