PATHOLOGY OF CHRONIC BOLIVIAN HEMORRHAGIC-FEVER IN RHESUS-MONKEY

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 84  (2) , 211-+
Abstract
Gross and microscopic lesions of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (BHF) are described in 10 rhesus monkeys that survived 30-78 days after s.c. inoculation with a dose of 103 plaque-forming units (PFU) of Machupo virus, a dose which produces a severe and generally fatal disease. Six of the monkeys were given low doses of homologous immune globulin when initial signs of infection appeared. Monkeys exhibited clinical signs in 2 phases. The initial signs of acute infection which began to appear about 1 wk following inoculation included diarrhea, depression, anorexia, dehydration and skin rash. The survivors of this early phase of the illness usually showed improvement before relapsing into the 2nd (or chronic) phase, characterized clinically by CNS disturbances including incoordination, tremors, convulsions, paresis and muscle atrophy. Microscopic lesions were similar in immune globulin-treated and untreated animals. These included widespread lymphoreticular infiltrates in the walls and adventitia of blood vessels of the brain, spinal cord, pancreas, intestine, liver, kidney, adrenal, parathyroid, heart and skeletal muscle. Diffuse lymphocytic infiltrates not confined to the vascular or perivascular tissues were present to a variable degree in many of these and other organs. Several monkeys exhibited lymphocytic inflammation of the choroid, meninges, peripheral nerves and ganglia.