STUDIES ON THE ETIOLOGY OF RABBIT POX

Abstract

The clinical manifestations and course of disease observed in experimental rabbit pox have been described and analyzed. The condition differed from the acute fulminating and rapidly fatal type of experimental infection (1) in that the period of survival was longer, a variety of clinical manifestations developed and a considerable proportion of the cases recovered. The most conspicuous symptom was a generalized papular eruption on the skin and mucocutaneous borders. The production of the disease was associated with routes of inoculation other than the intratesticular or with a small dosage. The majority of cases were inoculated with Berkefeld V filtrates of tissue-virus emulsions and not with the more potent unfiltered emulsions. The local reactions resulting from various routes of inoculation were described. Of special interest were the pronounced cutaneous reactions induced by intradermal injection, the high instance of marked clinical manifestations after intravenous inoculation, the failure of lesions to localize in the lines of scarification of skin and cornea even in cases with a profuse cutaneous eruption, and the development of cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in the epithelial cells of the cornea following scarification and conjunctival instillation of virus. In the character of its clinical manifestations and course of disease, experimental rabbit pox was indistinguishable from cases of the spontaneous pox.