The production of focal herpes encephalitis in mice by stereotaxic inoculation of virus. Anatomical and behavioral effects.

A low virulence strain of herpes simplex type 1 was microinjected into the hippocampus of BALB/c mice. Intense replication of virus at the inoculum site was followed by spread of viral antigen to the afferent connections of the hippocampus. Surviving animals showed focal damage of limbic structures and specific behavioral abnormalities generally consistent with hippocampal damage. This procedure thus produces an animal model which more closely resembles human herpes encephalitis than those previously reported.