Antigenic characteristics of isolates associated with a new epizootic of raccoon rabies in the United States.

A panel of 23 monoclonal antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein of rabies virus was used to study the antigenic character of isolates of rabies virus from raccoons in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Comparison of the reaction pattern of these isolates with that of isolates of rabies virus collected from areas of major rabies outbreaks (skunk rabies in the midwestern United States, fox rabies in the northeastern United States, and raccoon rabies in the southeastern United States) suggests that this new epizootic originated with the transportation of rabid raccoons from the southeastern United States.