Infection of baboons (Papio species) with herpesvirus papio 2 (HVP-2) produces a disease that is clinically similar to herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2) infection of humans. The development of a primate model of simplexvirus infection based on HVP-2 would provide a powerful resource to study virus biology and test vaccine strategies. In order to characterize the molecular biology of HVP-2 and justify further development of this model system we have constructed a physical map of the HVP-2 genome. The results of these studies have identified the presence of 26 reading frames that closely resemble HSV homologues. Furthermore, the HVP-2 genome shares a collinear arrangement with the genome of HSV. These studies further validate the development of the HVP-2 model as a surrogate system to study the biology of HSV infections.