Acute Infection of Encephalomyocarditis (EMC) Virus in Syrian Hamsters

Abstract

One-month-old Syrian hamsters of the APA and Std: golden strains were inoculated intraperitoneally with 105 PFU/head of the D variant of encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus and examined virologically and pathologically up to 7 days after inoculation. APA hamsters developed apparent hyperglycemia due to pancreatic islet cell damage while Std: golden hamsters did not. Hamsters of both strains showed clear histopathologic changes in the testis with prominent viral replication as well as in the brain, heart and exocrine pancreas. The susceptibility to EMC virus-infection was higher in males than in females and in APA than in Std: golden hamsters. © 1991, JAPANESE SOCIETY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. All rights reserved.