Pathogenesis of Herpetic Encephalitis in Mice after Ophthalmic Inoculation

Abstract

The pathogenesis of herpetic encephalitis in mice after inoculation of the cornea with herpes simplex virus type I is defined. To accomplish this, assays for infectious virus and morphologic studies using standard histologic, immunofluorescent, and ultrastructural techniques were performed on appropriate tissues during the course of infection. In both the peripheral and the central nervous systems the infection spread rapidly along nerve fibers and tracts and extended more slowly by direct cell-to-cell extension. Recurrences of ophthalmic infection in mice that had previously recovered from the acute disease could not be demonstrated, although latent virus was shown to be harbored in the trigeminal ganglia of these animals.