Five novel herpesviruses were identified in suid species from Africa (common warthog, Phacochoerus africanus) and South-East Asia (bearded pig, Sus barbatus; babirusa, Babyrousa babyrussa) by detection and analysis of their DNA polymerase genes. Three of the novel species, P. africanus cytomegalovirus 1, P. africanus lymphotropic herpesvirus 1 (PafrLHV-1) and S. barbatus lymphotropic herpesvirus 1 (SbarLHV-1), were closely related to known beta-(porcine cytomegalovirus) and gammaherpesviruses [porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus (PLHV) 1 and 3] of domestic pigs. In contrast, two novel species, S. barbatus rhadinovirus 1 (SbarRHV-1) and Babyrousa babyrussa rhadinovirus 1 (BbabRHV-1), were more closely related to a ruminant gammaherpesvirus, bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4), than to the porcine gammaherpesviruses PLHV-1, -2, -3, PafrLHV-1 and SbarLHV-1. SbarRHV-1, BbabRHV-1 and BoHV-4 were therefore tentatively assigned to a novel genogroup of artiodactyl gammaherpesviruses. This latter genogroup may also contain an as yet undiscovered gammaherpesvirus of domestic pigs, thereby adding a concern to their use in xenotransplantation.Domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) have been proposed as organ donors for xenotransplantation. A significant potential hazard and safety issue in xenotransplant patients is the transmission of porcine viruses (Auchincloss & Sachs, 1998;O'Connell et al., 2000;Onions et al., 2000). Porcine herpesviruses are of particular concern since human herpesviruses, predominantly cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), are associated with severe disease in allotransplantation (Ferry & Harris, 1994;van Zanten et al., 1998). Furthermore, herpesviruses are often inapparent in their natural hosts, but result in severe disease after infection of foreign hosts. To illustrate, the B herpesvirus causes only a benign infection in rhesus monkeys but induces fatal encephalitis in humans (Eberle & Hilliard, 1995). Another example is ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2). This virus causes only a benign infection in sheep, yet results in a fatal malignant catarrhal fever in cattle and pigs (Albini et al., 2003). Consequently, considerable efforts are under way to produce experimental donor pigs free of a number of known swine microorganisms (Fishman, 1994;Tucker et al., 2002).We recently reported the discovery of three porcine gammaherpesviruses in S. scrofa. Due to their lymphotropism, they were named porcine lymphotropic herpesviruses 1, 2 and 3 (PLHV-1, -2, -3). PLHV-1 and -3 and PLHV-2 have been found to be highly prevalent in domestic and feral pig populations, respectively (Ehlers et al., 1999b;Ulrich et al., 1999;Chmielewicz et al., 2003a). Evidence for the pathogenic potential of PLHV-1 was obtained using a porcine model of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This virus induces a fatal lymphoproliferative disorder resembling human post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), which occurs predominantly after liver and bone marrow allotransplantation (Huang et al., 2001). While human PTLD is frequently associate...