“…Of these, the hallmark characteristic of all natural SIV infections are high levels of SIV replication during both the acute and chronic stages of infection (Brenchley et al, 2012; Diop et al, 2000a; Goldstein et al, 2006; Gordon et al, 2007; Gueye et al, 2004; Kouyos et al, 2010; Onanga et al, 2002, 2006; Pandrea et al, 2005, 2006a, 2008c, 2012a, 2007b; Silvestri et al, 2005; Souquière et al, 2009; Wilks et al, 2011). During the acute infection, the peaks of virus replication in natural hosts are comparable to those seen in untreated HIV-1 and SIVmac infections (Apetrei et al, 2007, 2011; Diop et al, 2000a; Goldstein et al, 2000; Gordon et al, 2007; Gueye et al, 2004; Ma et al, 2013, 2014; Milush et al, 2011; Mir et al, 2012, 2015; Onanga et al, 2002, 2006; Pandrea et al, 2003, 2006a, 2008c, 2012a, 2007b; Schmitz et al, 2012; Silvestri et al, 2005; Souquière et al, 2009; Vanderford et al, 2012). During the chronic infection, VLs in natural hosts tend to be as high or even slightly higher than the VLs seen in pathogenic infections (Pandrea et al, 2006b).…”