Epidermal tissue as a primary site of replication of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus in small experimental hosts.

When fresh urine from LCM tolerantly infected mice was applied to small areas of excoriated skin of guinea-pigs undiluted or diluted 10(-1), a high LCM infectivity developed in the local dermal tissue within 3 days and quickly spread to the lymphatic system. The skin at this site of infection became erythematous 10--12 days after infection and a few days later a rash was often seen in the hairless skin around the mammary teats. A viraemia was first detected at about 8 days after infection and persisted for at least 8 days, during which time a high infectivity titre in skin not only at the infection site but also distal to it suggested that there was a generalized active infection of the dermis. Infectivity in the tongue was simultaneously high and probably associated with erosions of the tongue tip seen a day or two later than the teat rash. In similar experiments in hamsters and rabbits, indications were again that lightly injured dermis was a primary site of virus replication. These observations should lead to the dermal route receiving greater attention as a potential route of infection of man when exposed to infectious excretions of reservoir hosts of arena-viruses.