Jamestown Canyon Virus

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Jamestown Canyon (JC) virus. It is associated with a mild febrile illness in humans and belongs to the Bunyaviridae family. This virus is a member of the California group of viruses. The hosts to the JC virus are man, white-tailed deer, and mule deer. White-tailed deer are the primary amplifying host of the virus. The areas outside the Western Hemisphere are free from the virus. The Jerry Slough (JS) virus, found in the western United States, is considered to be a synonym of the JC virus. The JS virus has been primarily isolated from a single mosquito species—Culiseta inorata—and experimental data suggests that small rodents act as amplifying hosts. The preferred method for viral diagnosis of the JS virus is the inoculation of tissue culture with confirmation by the fluorescent antibody technique. In some instances, the more expensive but sensitive method of intracerebral suckling mouse inoculation is required to obtain an isolate. Specific neutralization tests are required for the virus identification of isolates that come from areas where other closely related California group viruses occur. The preferred method for serological diagnosis of this virus is plaque reduction neutralization. This technique is the most sensitive and has the greatest dependability, but is very expensive. Complement fixation and Haemagglutination inhibition are complex diagnostic techniques for the JS virus and require a careful preparation of reagents.