Herpes simplex virus type 2 wild-type and 13 temperature-sensitive mutants have been examined for their ability to be recovered from latently infected Biozzi mice. After inoculation into the rear footpad, virus could be recovered from both the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and the footpad (FP) at the site of inoculation (wt, ts 1, ts 2, ts 4, ts 6, ts 7 and ts 8), or from the DRG only (ts 11 and ts 13), or from FP only (ts 3, ts 9, ts 12). Two mutants (ts 5 and ts 10) have not been recovered from either site. Both DNA-positive and DNA-negative mutants have been shown to be capable of establishing latent infection.