Transmission of mouse thymic virus.

Mouse thymic virus (MTV) is a naturally occurring herpesvirus of mice which produces persistent infection in salivary glands. No transmission study has been reported previously. In the present work, transmissibility of MTV has been studied by close contact between cage-mates, by the transplacental route from experimentally infected pregnant mice to their foetuses at term or delivered by Caesarean section and by nursing mothers to their sucklings. Transmission of MTV was detected between cage-mates after a long period of contact. The virus was also recovered from newborns nursed by infected mothers inoculated 1 day post-delivery. However, no transmission was detected in the foetuses following infection of mothers at different stages of pregnancy.