O'nyong-nyong fever: An epidemic virus disease in East Africa

Abstract

1.1) Mice were inoculated with unadapted o'nyong-nyong virus at 28–30 hours of age, and (96 per cent.) developed a patchy alopecia on the 4th–7th post-inoculation day, which usually lasted 4–5 days.2.2) There was an inverse relationship between the number and size of the patches and the growth of the mice.3.3) The mice surviving inoculation were bled, and were shown to have serum HI antibodies to ONN; 41 of these were patchy.4.4) Two other group A viruses and one as yet ungrouped, isolated at this Institute, have been found to produce alopecia in infant mice during adaptation. The value of the alopecia as an indication for passage when adapting certain viruses is stressed.