Abstract
Summary
A transmissible agent with biological and physical properties similar to those of viruses in the myxovirus group was recovered from the pooled tissues of 2 white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) trapped in Virginia in March, 1962. The recovered agent produced degenerative changes in a variety of primary and continuous cell cultures, induced fatal infections in suckling mice when inoculated intracerebrally and hamsters when inoculated intracerebrally or intraperitoneally. Five of 8 white-footed mouse serum pools contained hemadsorption inhibiting antibody directed against the new agent in titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:160 but sera obtained from laboratory mice and from wild animals other than Peromyscus did not. A number of human beings were found to have hemadsorption inhibiting antibody against the new virus in their sera. This observation is taken as evidence that these individuals had experienced infection with the new agent or one closely related to it.
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