Arbovirus Studies in the Ohio-Mississippi Basin, 1964–1967 *

Abstract

Ticks and other ectoparasites were removed from small mammals captured in western Kentucky during 1966 and 1967. They were then processed to attempt isolation of virus by inoculation of newborn white Swiss mice. A virus was isolated from a single Amblyomma americanum nymphal tick that had been removed from a woodchuck (Marmota monax). Immunologic studies suggested that this virus had not been previously described, and we named it Lone Star. The new virus was shown to be sensitive to sodium desoxycholate, spherical in shape, 90 to 100 mµ in diameter, and probably to contain ribonucleic acid. Results of experimental inoculation of selected vertebrates, embryos, and cell cultures are described in the report. A survey was done to determine the distribution of neutralizing antibodies to Lone Star virus in specimens from domesti and feral creatures as well as human residents.