LYMPHOCYTIC CHORIOMENINGITIS VIRUS INFECTION
ANNA MEREDITH
Royal (Dick) School ofVeterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is a member of the Arenavirus genus in the family Arenaviridae.
LCMV was the first identified arenavirus, discovered in 1933 as a cause of aseptic meningitis in humans, and now widely recognized as an important zoonosis. Arenaviruses are enveloped single- stranded RNA viruses with a genome consisting of two RNA segments: large (L) and small (S). Virions are spherical to pleomorphic, 50—300 nm in diameter and may have ribosomes present, which gives them their characteristic sandy appearance (arena means ‘sand’ in Latin) when visualized by electron microscopy. LCMV is associated with wild rodents, principally the house mouse (Mus musculus), and is the only arenavirus to have a worldwide distribution. Mice infected in utero fail to mount an immune response and develop a chronic sub- clinical infection with high levels of virus that are shed throughout life in urine, faeces, nasal secretions, saliva, milk and semen. Prevalence of infection may reach 100%. LCMV has also been found in domestic mice, hamsters, rats and guinea pigs. In wild rodents, LCMV has also been found in the Algerian mouse (Mus spretus), long-tailed field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicolus), striped field mouse (Apodemus agrar- ius), harvest mouse (Micromys minutus), bank vole ( Clethri- onomys glareoulus), common vole (Microtus arvalis) and grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Serological surveys in wild rodents in Europe include a prevalence of 9% in Spain, 31% in the UK and 5.6% in Northern Italy. In the UK 4/19 (21%) grey squirrels in North Wales were antibody-positive. However, many rodents can be persistently infected in the absence of circulating antibodies, so serology correlates poorly with the presence or absence of live virus. Molecular techniques such as RT-PCR may be used on animal tissue and are more reliable.In laboratory rodents, LCMV infection can occasionally cause disease, depending on immune status and age at infection. Clinical signs include piloerection, hunched posture, blepharitis, weakness, tremors and convulsions. At post mortem examination all visceral organs are infiltrated with lymphocytes and an immune complex glomerulonephritis is a characteristic feature. However, clinical disease has not been described in wild species.
Humans can be infected by direct or indirect contact with infected rodents. Infection in humans can cause acute CNS disease and congenital malformations, and has also been reported recently as a fatal disease acquired by organ transplantation. Non- human primates, in particular cal- litrichids (South American marmosets and tamarins) are also at risk from contact with, or ingestion of, infected wild or captive- bred rodents, and develop a fatal calli- trichid hepatitis (CH), recognized as an emerging disease in captive populations within zoos.
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