Experimental rabies in a great horned owl

A great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) was fed the carcass of an experimentally infected rabid skunk. The bird developed antibody titer to rabies, detected by passive haemagglutination, 27 days after oral inoculation by ingestion. The owl suppressed the infection until corticosteroid administration, after which a maximum antibody titer was attained. Evidence of active rabies viral infection was seen by fluorescent antibody staining of oral swabs, corneal impression smears and histologic tissue smears, by suckling mouse inoculation of oral swab washings, and by transmission electron microcopy. No clinical signs of rabies virus infection were observed.