Abstract
Disease-free dogs, known to be susceptible to infectious canine hepatitis, were inoculated with this virus subcutaneously or intravenously. Antibody and virus titers were measured in the aqueous humor and blood serum. Ocular tissue was examined for the presence of virus by fluorescence microscopy. During the acute febrile stage of illness there was mild iridocyclitis without corneal involvement. The latter supervened during convalescence.
Two fundamentally different modes of pathogenesis are postulated for the ocular lesions of infectious canine hepatitis. During the acute phase of illness, prior to the onset of circulating antibody, uveitis occurs that is related directly to effects of viral growth in vascular endothelium, and in reticuloendothelial elements of the anterior uvea. The severe iridocyclitis with corneal opacification that occurs in clinically recovered dogs possess characteristics of the Arthus-type of ocular hypersensitivity.