PARAMYXO-LIKE VIRUS-INFECTION IN A ROCK RATTLESNAKE

Abstract

A rock rattlesnake (C. lepidus) with a history of progressive central nervous disease was submitted for necropsy. The histopathologic findings included evidence of interstitial pneumonia, multifocal areas of gliosis in the brain, and ballooning degeneration and demyelination of brainstem and upper spinal cord axons. By EM brainstem tissue was found to contain numerous virus particles in the extracellular spaces. A paramyxo-like virus, isolated in viper heart cells from lung tissue, was observed by EM to be similar in size and shape to the particles seen in nerve tissue.