SHOPE R E
J Exp Med. 1957 Apr 1;105(4):373-82. doi: 10.1084/jem.105.4.373.
Leeches, fed on swine infected with hog cholera, contained virus for as long as 87 days after their infective blood meals. In three instances, infected leeches apparently transmitted hog cholera virus to susceptible swine in the process of normal feeding. Myxoma virus persisted in leeches for as long as 154 days after the ingestion of a blood meal from rabbits with myxomatosis. Leeches fed consecutively, first on swine with hog cholera, and later on rabbits with myxomatosis, acquired both viruses. In such dually infected leeches, the hog cholera virus persisted for as long as 122 days and the myxoma virus for as long as 110 days, the longest periods tested. Leeches fed consecutively, first on rabbits with myxomatosis, and later on swine with hog cholera, acquired only the myxoma virus. Hog cholera virus could not be demonstrated in such dually fed leeches. Myxoma and hog cholera viruses appeared to be present in about equivalent amounts in the anterior and posterior thirds of the bodies of infected leeches. Myxoma and hog cholera viruses were present in the bloody gut contents of infected leeches but were not demonstrable in the body tissues of these leeches. It seems from the findings presented that leeches are not biological carriers of either myxoma or hog cholera virus but instead carry these two agents mechanically in their gastrointestinal tracts. In doing this, they appear to protect the viruses from various deleterious chemical and physical influences to which they would have been exposed in the open. It is speculated that leeches could play a role in nature in perpetuating the blood-borne viruses of certain diseases in which close association with bodies of fresh water is of epidemiological importance.
以感染猪霍乱的猪为食的水蛭，在摄取感染性血餐后长达87天内都含有病毒。在三个案例中，受感染的水蛭在正常进食过程中显然将猪霍乱病毒传播给了易感猪。黏液瘤病毒在摄取患有黏液瘤病的兔子的血餐后，在水蛭体内持续存在长达154天。水蛭先以感染猪霍乱的猪为食，随后以患有黏液瘤病的兔子为食，会同时感染这两种病毒。在这种双重感染的水蛭中，猪霍乱病毒持续存在长达122天，黏液瘤病毒持续存在长达110天，这是测试的最长时间。水蛭先以患有黏液瘤病的兔子为食，随后以感染猪霍乱的猪为食，只会感染黏液瘤病毒。在这种双重喂食的水蛭中无法检测到猪霍乱病毒。黏液瘤病毒和猪霍乱病毒在受感染水蛭身体的前三分之一和后三分之一中含量似乎大致相等，并存在于受感染水蛭含血的肠道内容物中，但在这些水蛭的身体组织中无法检测到。从所呈现的研究结果来看，水蛭似乎不是黏液瘤病毒或猪霍乱病毒的生物载体，而是在其胃肠道中机械性地携带这两种病原体。在这样做的过程中，它们似乎保护了病毒免受在外界可能会接触到的各种有害化学和物理影响。据推测，水蛭在自然界中可能会在某些疾病的血源病毒的传播中发挥作用，在这些疾病中，与淡水水体的密切关联具有流行病学意义。
