Coxsackievirus B4 hepatitis in monkeys.

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis was produced by Coxsackievirus B4, an agent highly infectious to man, in 3 of 9 experimentally infected squirrel monkeys. Although the virus could not be isolated from the livers of these monkeys, viral antigen was found in the liver cells of one monkey with severe hepatitis by direct immunofluorescent antibody staining, and a virus crystal was found in the kidney of this monkey by electron microscopy. These and previous studies strongly suggest that the Coxsackievirus can exist in the liver and other tissues in a dormant or slow viral state.