HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SIIRIN, M. T. Articles by TESH, R. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by SIIRIN, M. T. Articles by TESH, R. B. Related Collections Viral Encephalitis

CHRONIC ST. LOUIS ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS INFECTION IN THE GOLDEN HAMSTER (MESOCRICETUS AURATUS)

To further study the phenomenon of flavivirus persistent infection, golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were inoculated intraperitoneally with a low pathogenicity strain of St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV). After inoculation, the animals remained asymptomatic and developed high levels of specific neutralizing antibodies in their sera. However, about one half of the hamsters continued to shed infectious SLEV in their urine for prolonged periods of time. By co-cultivation, SLEV was recovered from selected tissues (kidney, lung, and brain) of some of the animals for up to 185 days after initial infection. Although no specific histopathologic changes were observed in these tissues, SLEV antigen was shown by immunohistochemistry in the interstitium and tubular epithelium of the renal cortex and in a few large neurons of the cerebral cortex. Seventeen SLEV isolates from urine and tissues of the chronically infected hamsters were sequenced. In comparison with the infecting parent SLEV strain, two common mutations and amino acid substitutions were observed in all of the hamster isolates. The findings of this study were very similar to previous descriptions of chronic West Nile, Modoc, and tick-borne encephalitis virus infections in mammals, and they re-emphasize the potential importance of persistent flavivirus infection in vertebrates.

Received August 31, 2006. Accepted for publication October 13, 2006.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dora Salinas for help in preparing the manuscript.

Financial support: This work was supported by Contracts NO1-AI25489 and NO1-AI30027 from the National Institutes of Health.

^* Address correspondence to Dr. Robert B. Tesh, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609. E-mail: rtesh{at}utmb.edu

Authors’ addresses: Marina T. Siirin, Tao Duan, Hao Lei, Hilda Guzman, Amelia P. A. Travassos da Rosa, Douglas M. Watts, Shu-Yuan Xiao, and Robert B. Tesh, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609.

Reprint requests: Robert B. Tesh, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609. E-mail: rtesh{at}utmb.edu.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Siddharthan, H. Wang, N. E. Motter, J. O. Hall, R. D. Skinner, R. T. Skirpstunas, and J. D. Morrey Persistent West Nile Virus Associated with a Neurological Sequela in Hamsters Identified by Motor Unit Number Estimation J. Virol., May 1, 2009; 83(9): 4251 - 4261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. M. Kim, D. J. King, H. Guzman, R. B. Tesh, A. P. A. T. da Rosa, R. Bueno Jr., J. A. Dennett, and C. L. Afonso Biological and Phylogenetic Characterization of Pigeon Paramyxovirus Serotype 1 Circulating in Wild North American Pigeons and Doves J. Clin. Microbiol., October 1, 2008; 46(10): 3303 - 3310. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]