Panel 25. The name of the foamy virus comes from the fact that this virus induces sort of “bubbles” in infected cells, giving them a foamy appearance. This virus has been known since the 1950s, when it was first identified in non-human primates. The question of the existence of a foamy virus in humans has long been debated. In fact, it turns out that the few infections in humans by a foamy virus were the result of a fortuitous transmission from an animal to a human, with no possibility of subsequent human-to-human transmission.