Optimalized conditions of tick-borne encephalitis virus production in vitro.

Conditions of the efficient production of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus in chick embryo cell (CEC) monolayer cultures were investigated. The prerequisites of high recovery of the produced virus appeared to be: the use of dense cell monolayers, reasonable frequency of harvests and a suitable buffering of nutrient media. Using low input multiplicity of infection, the peak of the serum-free virus production was observed between 24 and 48 hr post infection (p.i.). The procedure elaborated was useful for isotopic labelling of the virus.