The pathology of wildebeest-associated malignant catarrhal fever in hamsters, rats and guinea-pigs.

Lesions typical of malignant catarrhal fever were found in hamsters, rats and guinea-pigs inoculated with a rabbit-passaged strain (C-500) of alcelaphine herpesvirus-1. Lesions found during primary passage included proliferation of lymphoid tissues, multisystemic mononuclear cell infiltrates, vasculitis and necrosis, especially in the alimentary tract. The character, severity and distribution of lesions remained stable in affected hamsters during serial passage of disease, whereas lympho-proliferation became dominant in rats. The lesions in rats typically affected lymph nodes, heart and kidney and appear similar to those caused by oncogenic herpesviruses. Because rodents are susceptible to malignant catarrhal fever, the prospect is advanced that they can be used to elucidate the pathogenesis of both lymphoproliferative and cytolytic aspects of the disease.