Volume 10, Number 12—December 2004
Research
Alligators as West Nile Virus Amplifiers
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.
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).