Experimental vesicular stomatitis virus infection: Ultrastructural pathology

Vesicular stomatitis virus infection in mice and hamsters was rapidly lethal, but primary target organs and pathogenesis varied with the route of inoculation. Ultrastructural observations of brain tissue after intracerebral inoculation indicated widespread neuronal infection with viral maturation upon plasma membranes. This was associated with the development of interstitial edema and necrosis. When virus was inoculated intramuscularly, the most important target organs were liver and kidney. Focal necrosis of tubular epithelium of the kidney was prominent, and in the liver a clear progression of infection through Kupffer cells and into parenchyma was extremely destructive. Virus particle production from liver littoral cells appeared to be a major potential source of virus for spread to other organs, but the peracute course of disease in these rodents precluded development of other lesions or an inflammatory response.