The occurrence of human wart-virus antibodies in dogs, pigs and cattle

Using the immunodiffusion method, antibodies against human wart-virus were detected in dog, pig and cattle sera but not in horse and reindeer sera. Antibodies were found in 25 percent (28/114) of the dog sera, the prevalence of antibodies being fairly similar to that in children of the same age. By electron microscopy the antibodies in dog sera were shown to attach to and precipitate the human wart-virus particles, and in immunodiffusion the precipitation lines of human and dog sera were shown to be identical. Of the cattle sera studied, 10 percent (10/97) and of the pig sera 13 percent (5/40) gave a faint precipitation line, having identity with that given by the human sera, against human wart-virus. Conversely 18 percent (9/50) of adult human sera contained precipitating antibodies against a bovine papilloma antigen, probably bovine papilloma virus.