Isolation of a herpes simplex virus type 1-like agent from the brain of a mountain agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis agilis) with encephalitis.

A captive-born 2-yr-old male mountain agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis agilis) that died of encephalitis harbored a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1)-like agent in the brain. A complete necropsy revealed intensive meningeal congestion with nonsuppurative encephalitis. The virus was recovered from frozen brain tissue in Vero cells. The isolate was very similar but not identical to human HSV1. Both western blot assay and virus neutralization tests were done with sera from 15 gibbons. Antibodies against HSV1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) were detected in four healthy gibbons, which included four species in three subgenera.

PCR Identification and Differentiation of Baboon Cytomegalovirus From Other Human and Nonhuman Primate Cytomegalovirus.

Background: Differential identification of baboon alpha, beta, and gamma herpesviruses is an essential technology in order to monitor xenozoonotic transmission of baboon viruses to foreign species organ and/or cell recipients. We present polymerase chain reaction techniques that will differentiate known baboon cytomegaloviruses (CMV) from their closely related counterparts found in humans. Methods and Results: Polymerase chain reaction techniques for identification of the known beta herpesviruses commonly present in the baboon are reported. The techniques described also permit the unequivocal differentiation of these virus types from closely related human as well as other nonhuman primate viruses in the family herpesviridae. Methods are based upon sequence analysis of specifically selected genes of baboon CMV. Primer pairs from sequence analyses were selected based upon nonhomologous sequences in gene homologues of human CMV. Unique, baboon species specific amplimers were identified both with ethidium bromide staining and with radiolabeled probe analyses. Conclusions: With the described techniques, it is possible to monitor organ/cell recipients of xenograft transplantation for the establishment of baboon CMV in the foreign human host. Monitoring can be performed throughout the life of the recipient in effort to rule out host susceptibility to baboon CMV, as well as to rule out potential host:donor recombinant viruses formed between the closely related members of herpesvirus family.

Myeloencephalitis associated with a viridans group Streptococcus in a colony of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

Five weaned immature Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), bred in captivity, showed nervous signs over a 12-month period. Hemorrhagic cerebral infarcts with vasculitis were detected in four necropsied animals. The distribution and nature of the lesions were consistent with bacterial embolism, and a Streptococcus isolate, biochemically similar to S. salivarius, was recovered from the cerebral lesions from three of the four necropsied macaques. Treatment with antibacterial agents (enrofloxacin) improved the clinical condition of the surviving affected animal. These observations strongly suggest that this Streptococcus spp., member of the viridans group, is responsible for this outbreak. Dental pulpitis, present in two of the four macaques, probably served as the entry for this bacterium.

Characterization of a novel syncytium-inducing baboon reovirus.

A syncytium-inducing reovirus was recently isolated from brain homogenates of a baboon suffering from acute, progressive meningoencephalo myelitis. This baboon reovirus (BRV) was classified as a member of the genus Orthoreovirus, family Reoviridae, on the basis of the characteristic capsid morphology and genome and protein profiles. We have assessed the relationship between BRV and the other syncytium-inducing reoviruses in order to determine whether the emergence of this virus represents a host range or pathogenic alteration in a previously described isolate or the appearance of a novel entity. BRV was compared to representative members of the prototype mammalian reoviruses, avian reoviruses, and Nelson Bay virus on the basis of electropherotype, protein profile, and antigenic similarity as measured by immunoprecipitation using homologous and heterologous antisera. In spite of similarities between the genome and protein profiles of BRV and the other orthoreoviruses, migration-rate polymorphisms indicate that BRV has diverged extensively from the previously described syncytium-inducing orthoreoviruses. Most importantly, the limited epitope conservation suggests that BRV has existed in genetic isolation from other reoviruses for quite some time. We conclude that BRV represents a novel syncytium-inducing mammalian reovirus, which is of particular interest in view of its association with disease in nonhuman primates during natural infections and its unusual syncytial phenotype.

Sickle cell disease with complicated influenza B virus infection.

The Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Center for Disease Control for many years have recommended the routine use of influenza vaccine in various hemoglobinopathies including sickle cell disease. This recommendation, however, has not been included in the patient care protocols of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers program of NIHLB. Most clinicians have not used yearly influenza vaccine for their patients with sickle cell disease. This article reports a case of a 5-year-old boy with sickle cell disease who had not received influenza vaccine. He developed pneumonitis and acute myositis during a serologically confirmed influenza B virus infection. The incapacitating and protracted course of his illness presented diagnostic and management problems. His case strongly supports the recommendation of the two infectious disease committees.

ELISA for detection of IgG and IgM antibodies to HSV-1 and HSV-2 in human sera.

A rapid, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was applied to identify and measure specific IgG and IgM antibodies to herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). Detergent solubilized infected cells and mock-infected cells were used as antigens in the assay. Identification of type-specific antibodies was achieved by a competition assay in which clinical sera mixed with HSV-1 or HSV-2 antigens were assayed for reactivity to identical antigens coating wells of polystyrene microtiter plates. Reactivity and the specificity of the reactive immunoglobulin class was quantitated using biotinylated goat anti-IgG and biotinylated goat anti-IgM. Five paired sera from patients with diagnosed herpes simplex genital infections and one human anti-HSV-1 reference serum were tested with this assay and results were compared to results previously obtained using a complement fixation test and micro-SPRIA. The results indicate that the ELISA is a specific, sensitive and simple test which confirms the herpes simplex virus infection history of patients.

Comparison of four methods for typing low-passage herpes simplex virus isolates.

Clinical isolates of herpes simplex virus (HSV) were identified as HSV type 1 or type 2 by sensitivity to (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU), by differential replication in chick embryo cells versus guinea pig embryo cells, by restriction endonuclease analysis, and by a direct fluorescent antibody technique using monoclonal antibodies. More than 550 isolates were typed by two or three of the systems with complete agreements as to virus type between systems for each isolate. In appropriately equipped laboratories, any of the above typing systems can be used with complete confidence. However, the BVDU sensitivity assay, particularly when used in a continuous cell line as described, can be economically utilized in any virology laboratory.

Subacute salicylate intoxication in an infant with echovirus type 11 infection.

An antigenic variant of E 11 was the most frequently encountered echovirus in the United States in 1979. Several reports have indicated that infection with this agent was often associated with an overwhelming clinical course in neonates. Our case was in a 5-week-old infant with an E 11 infection complicated by subacute salicylate intoxication. This unfavorable combination resulted in a fulminant and fatal illness simulating Reye's syndrome.

Incidence of coxsackievirus B type 4 (CB4) infections concomitant with onset of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

From September 1979 to August 1981, a total of 25 children with newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were admitted for management to the Pediatric Ward, Lubbock General Hospital, Lubbock, Texas. Parents of the 24 admitted patients gave informed consent for their child to participate in the study. While hospitalized, all study patients donated early-phase (acute) blood samples and specimens for virus isolation attempts. Eighteen of the 24 patients originally enrolled in the study continued to come for follow-up visits to the Endocrinology Clinic of the Department of Pediatrics, and hence, provided the late-phase (convalescent) blood samples for the completion of serologic evaluation. The result of this two-year survey is the following: 1) one of the 24 hospitalized cases yielded a non-CB4 enterovirus; (2) serologically, only 2 of 18 IDDM patients showed some CB4 neutralizing antibody (NtAb) activity, ie, rising titers in their late phase sera. In view of the time of onset of patients' symptoms compatible with IDDm, the diabetogenic input of a past CB4 infection could have been considered in one of these two patients. In conclusion, results of our two-year study indicate that occasionally the onset of IDDM might be associated with an acute CB4 infection.

Identification of Bulgarian strain 258 of enterovirus 71.

In 1975 in Bulgaria a severe epidemic of central nervous system (CNS) disease occurred. Clinically, histopathologically, and epidemiologically the cases resembled poliomyelitis, aseptic meningitis, meningoencephalitis, and, in some cases, encephalomyocarditis. About 21% of the 700 reported cases developed paralysis, 44 with fatal outcome [ref. 1]. In 65 cases, 92 strains of enterovirus of the same serologic type were isolated: 38 strains from the CNS, 10 from mesenteric lymph nodes and tonsils, and 44 from feces [ref. 1,2]. A typical representative strain, No. 258, isolated from the spinal cord of a 3-month-old baby who died on the 5th day of disease with signs of focal polioencephalitis, was selected for intensive study. Cross-neutralization tests established the antigenic identity of the Bulgarian 258 strain (Stanchev) with American strains of enterovirus type 71 (BrCr and JaFr strains) and Swedish strains of the same type (Nos. 52343, 52500, and 6041). From its biological [ref. 1,2], physicochemical [ref. 3], and antigenic properties, the etiological agent of this large epidemic can be classified as a member of enterovirus type 71, one of the most highly pathogenic of the recently recognized enteroviruses.

Persistence of virus shedding in asymptomatic women after recovery from herpes genitalis.

One hundred seventeen women were reexamined within 6 months after presenting with genital herpes. Swabs for virus isolation were taken from the cervix whether or not lesions were observed. Herpesvirus type II was isolated from 30 of 67 patients with recurrent disease, but also from 5 of 50 women during periods when there were no signs or symptoms of illness. The epidemiologic importance of virus shedding from asymptomatic women is discussed.

Treatment of genital herpes simplex virus infection with photodynamic inactivation.

A double-blind randomized study to evaluate the effect of proflavine in the treatment of genital herpesvirus infection was conducted. One hundred fifty-seven women were studied, of whom 75 were treated with proflavine (treated women) and 82 were treated with placebo (control group). There were 62 women with primary disease and 95 with recurrent infection. Under the conditions by which this study was conducted, there was no apparent difference in the time of healing of lesions, development of recurrences, or virus isolation following treatment in the proflavine-treated and control groups.

Experimental carcinoma of liver in macaque monkeys exposed to diethylnitrosamine and hepatitis B virus.

The effects of treatments with diethylnitrosamine (DENA) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) on macaque monkeys were investigated by virus serology and by light and electron microscopy. The experimental groups comprised 43 newborn or juvenile cynomolgus and rhesus monkeys of both sexes. HBV neither had a carcinogenic effect nor increased the oncogenic effect of DENA. However, HBV given to juvenile primates before treatment with DENA resulted in subsequent gross and microscopic alterations consistent with mild hepatitis and postnecrotic cirrhosis; multifocal liver carcinoma apparently developed within these cirrhotic nodules. The pathologic findings in the experimental animals were strikingly similar to those observed in liver cancer patients.

Comparative analysis of polypeptides induced by type 1 and type 2 strains of herpes simplex virus.

The polypeptides synthesized in HEp-2 cells infected with 7 type 1 and 8 type 2 strains of herpes simplex virus were examined by PAGE. The polypeptides produced were consistent for each type and clearly different from those produced by infection with the other type.