Attempts to Transmit Epidemic Poliomyelitis to Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Rats, Mice,Chickens and Ferrets with and without Depression by X-Rays

Abstract

Undoubtedly experimental work in epidemic poliomyelitis would be greatly facilitated if the virus were capable of reproducing the disease in some animal other than the monkey. Some controversy has arisen with regard to the susceptibility of the young rabbit although with other laboratory or domestic animals the results have been clearly negative insofar at least as the production of spinal cord lesions are concerned.' Unfortunately, no one has as yet discovered pathognomonic lesions in other tissues or organs with the possibility of establishing the existence of infection in the absence of paralysis and the typical spinal cord changes. For many years it was thought that Treponema pallidum was infectious only for rabbits, monkeys and apes until it was discovered that clinically atypical lesions could be produced in mice and guinea pigs and the former have proven useful for chemotherapeutic investigations bearing upon syphilitic infection of the central nervous system with special reference to the brain. Our own studies along such lines with the virus of poliomyelitis will be reported later but at present we wish to briefly record efforts made during the past two years in transmitting the virus to young rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, chickens and ferrets with and without depression of the marrow and lymphoid tissues by x-rays. Special interest was placed in the possibility of transmission to ferrets, since these animals have been found susceptible to infection with some of the viruses and do not appear to have been hitherto employed for the transmission of the virus of poliomyelitis. We may state at the outset, however, that all of our experiments have yielded completely negative results insofar at least as the reproduction of the paralytic type of the human disease is concerned.