STUDIES ON A VIRUS FROM A PATIENT WITH FORT BRAGG FEVER (PRETIBIAL FEVER)

Abstract

An infectious agent was recovered from guinea pigs injd. with blood from a soldier suffering from Fort Bragg fever in Aug., 1944, at Fort Bragg. The agent induced a febrile non-fatal illness in guinea pigs and rabbits and a lethal disease in hamsters. It was maintained by passage in animals or embryonated eggs, but storage even at[long dash]70[degree]C was unsatisfactory unless special precautions were taken. The agent was filterable under conditions which were adequate to retain staphylococci. The virus, after prolonged passage in guinea pigs and embryonated eggs, was able to induce the clinical picture of Fort Bragg fever in some of the inoculated human beings, while the majority exhibited only fever for 1-3 days. The new virus appears to be unrelated in its properties or immunologically to the agents of lympho-cytic choriomeningitis, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, sandfly fever, and dengue fever. It does not resemble the rickettsia-like agent previously encountered in work on Fort Bragg fever and subsequently shown to be enzootic in guinea pigs.