Coxsackie A7 virus infections of rodents

Summary Coxsackie A7 virus injected by various routes caused fatal paralytic disease in newborn mice, adult merions and adult cotton rats. In all these species, and also in adult mice and lemmings with silent infections, brown fat was infectious during the first few days after inoculation. Virus titres of brown fat were higher than those of other organs and gross and microscopic evidence of necrosis was seen in cotton rats infected with virus strains isolated in Scotland but not with the Russian ABIV strain. Brown fat is susceptible to many neurotropic viruses, and it may act to increase the severity of the infection or provide a model of the infectious process suitable for study.