Rabies virus pathogenicity and challenge. Influence of the method of preparation, the route of inoculation, and the species. Comparison of the characteristics of the modified, fixed and wild strains.

The challenge we carried out, which regularly brought about the death of the control animals, led us to study the different factors influencing the pathogenicity of the rabies virus. So, the method of preparation is important. The strain NYC, prepared from the salivary glands is extremely pathogenic for dogs; however, when it is prepared from mouse brains after nine passages have been made, it proves to be already partially modified. One then notices a death-rate which is less severe, even when larger quantities of virus are employed, and also the presence of some aberrant phenomena. (The survival of some of the infected animals and the nature of their inapparent forms of infection were confirmed by serology.) The significance of the route of inoculation in the different species of animals was studied. The injection in the crotaphytes was reserved for dogs, the cervical muscles for cats and the masseters for sheep. Paradoxically, cats prove to be most resistant to the challenge under our conditions. Finally the numerical data, allowing us to compare the different strains, modified, fixed or wild, was established. The data was based on the incubation period and on the differences between the titres obtained via intramuscular routes and intracerebral routes in the mice.