Mouse Cytomegalovirus: Isolation from Spleen and Lymph Nodes of Chronically Infected Mice

Abstract

MCMV was recovered from abdominal lymph nodes and spleens of chronically infected C3H and Balb/c mice by prolonged co-cultivation with mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Intranuclear inclusions were not found histologically in spleens from infected mice nor were herpes-type viruses seen in the electron microscope. Virus was isolated from mice for as long as 55 days after infection, the maximum time tested. MCMV could be passed to uninfected mice by injection of spleen cells from chronically infected mice.