Host-Virus Relations in Encephalomyocarditis (EMC) Virus Infections

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Abstract
Summary 1. Black rats (Rattus rattus), except when in the suckling stage, have proved resistant to infection with EMC virus. No continuous intestinal carrier state could be induced in them. 2. Multimammate (Mastomys coucha) and other field rats proved highly susceptible to EMC virus infections. Virus was recovered from feces, intestinal wall, blood, and a variety of organs from bodies of infected animals. A hypothesis is offered that these small mammals may be of principal importance in maintaining the disease in nature. 3. Field rats inoculated with EMC virus appeared to die principally from myocarditis. 4. Hemocele inoculations of EMC virus into Taenyorhynchus fuscopennatus, gave no indication that these mosquitoes are potential vectors.
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