Experimental sialodacryoadenitis virus infection in athymic CD-1 mice.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the susceptibility of nude mice to sialodacryoadenitis virus. Young adult male CD-1 nude mice were inoculated intranasally with virus, killed at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 20 days postinoculation and examined for virus-induced lesions in tissues including respiratory tract. Inoculated and control mice were examined by virus isolation and serology. In a companion study, male Wistar rats were inoculated intranasally with the same inoculum, and examined by histopathology, immunofluorescence microscopy and serology. In virus-inoculated mice, lesions were minimal in the lower respiratory tract, and were absent in other tissues. Virus was isolated from the lower respiratory tract in animals sampled at six or eight days postinoculation. Antiviral antibody was not detected in sera from inoculated and control mice. Virus-associated lesions and antibodies were readily detected in rats following inoculation. Based on this study, there is no evidence that inadvertent exposure to sialodacryoadenitis virus should pose a threat to CD-1 nude mice, and their susceptibility to the disease appears to be similar to that reported in euthymic CD-1 mice.