Abstract
Sanarelli, 1 in 1898, described an infectious myxoma indigenous to rabbits of South America. The characteristics of this disease have led investigators to classify it with the so-called filterable virus diseases. Tumor-like masses appear quickly at the site of inoculation, and later at various other points in the subcutaneous tissue, as well as in the lymph nodes and spleen. The disease is extremely malignant and usually kills rabbits within 7 to 15 days. Mammals and fowls that have been tested, with the exception of rabbits, have been found to be refractory to infection with the virus. No one has succeeded in cultivating the etiological agent on artificial media.
The tumors, upon macroscopic and microscopic examination, present the picture observed in myxomas. At the same time, however, evidences of a severe inflammatory reaction are seen, e. g., collections of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and other types of cells. Frequently the tumors do not appear unlike some of the myxomatous growths seen in chickens. Intracellular changes have also been observed and recorded. Splendore, 2 in 1909, stated that trachoma-like bodies occurred in affected cells. In 1911, Moses 3 reported that he was unable to demonstrate inclusions similar to the ones seen in trachoma. Aragao, 4 in 1911, described round bodies of uniform size in the hypertrophic nuclei of cells in the myxomatous masses. He thought that these bodies underwent division and represent the virus itself.
The point of particular interest concerning the myomatosis of rabbits and the occasion for the present paper is the fact that both epithelial tissue and connective tissue are affected. On the one hand, there seems to be a proliferation of certain cells within the connective tissue, while on the other, a destruction of epithelial cells is occurring.
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