Adenoviruses are a common bug that can cause cold and flu-like symptoms that not only infect humans, but closely related primates.
Arizona State University researchers studied the virus's transmission behaviors in monkeys in Ethiopia.
The study found that adenoviruses were most common in gelada monkeys that were younger than 6 months old, the age where they generally start to play with others.
That means the baby primates were most likely exposed to the virus through their mothers.
And the number of viruses collected fell sharply in the fecal samples from older and older monkeys, suggesting they likely gained immunity from previous infections.
While this sounds like common sense for us humans, the study helps with understanding how viruses behave in the wild and how they might evolve.
The study was published in the journal Microbial Genomics.
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