Diagnosis of Rabies by Immunofluorescent Staining of Frozen Sections of Skin

Abstract

SUMMARY Rabies virus antigen can be detected in the skin of mice that have been inoculated with rabies virus of bovine, feline, or canine origin. The antigen seems to be in neural elements of the skin. The direct fluorescent-antibody ( fa ) test, using labeled antirabies globulin on frozen sections of skin, gives this result. Antigen is reliably found in the skin of the face or neck 1 day, and occasionally as early as 4 days, prior to onset of clinical signs. Homogenized skin, when injected intracerebrally ( i.c. ) into young mice, has induced confirmed rabies in all of several attempts. A biopsy technique for specifically diagnosing or predicting the onset of rabies would be useful to better evaluate exposures of human beings and to better define the natural history of rabies.