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Volume 10, Number 12—December 2004

Research

Alligators as West Nile Virus Amplifiers

Kaci Klenk*1Comments to Author , Jamie Snow*, Katrina Morgan*, Richard A. Bowen†, Michael Stephens*, Falicia Foster*, Paul Gordy†, Susan Beckett*, Nicholas Komar*, Duane Gubler*, and Michel L. Bunning*‡

Author affiliations: *Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; †Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; ‡United States Air Force, Washington, DC, USA

Main Article

Table 2

West Nile virus isolation from tissues of the two alligators that dieda

Alligator Tank Day after viremia onset Tissue (log10 PFU/0.5 cm3)
Heart Kidney Spleen Liver Lung Spinal cord Cerebellum Cerebrum
M0216 tankmate 32°C oral 12 5.8 <0.9 <0.9 1.4 6.1 2.1 2.7 1.6
M0228 tankmate 32°C oral 15 <0.9 2.2 2.5 1.6 3.5 NA <0.9 <0.9

aNo virus was detected in tissues from seven recovered alligators tested. bTemperature of tank and route of infection for alligators kept in tank.

Main Article

1 USDA National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, Colorado.

2 Of alligators infected by tankmate transmission, the death rate is 20% (2/10). Of alligators held at 32°C, the death rate is 13% (2/16).

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