Immunohistological, microscopical and neurochemical studies on encephalitides. 7. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Susceptibility of dogs to the virus, and characterization of host response.

Abstract

Summary. LEC virus derived from a patient with SSPE was inoculated intracerebrally into beagle puppies. All three animals that received cell-associated virus and two of three animals inoculated with cell-free virus developed encephalitis. None of the other animals inoculated with cell-free and cell-associated wild measles or attenuated measles virus developed any disease. Whereas the animals that received inoculation of measles virus developed an antibody response, the animals with encephalitis due to the SSPE virus remained free of antibodies up to the point of death. These results are consistent with those previously reported by us for calves and lambs.