Encephalomyelitis induced by canine distemper virus in non-human primates

A strain of canine distemper virus was shown to be highly neuro-virulent in non-human primates. Intracerebral inoculation induced in monkeys histological lesions of encephalomyelitis, i.e., degenerative changes consisting mainly of neuronal damage and inflammatory changes such as perivascular cuffings and glial proliferation, in wide areas in the brain and spinal cord. In one monkey observed for 70 days, lesions with a tendency of subacute sclerosing were also noticed. Immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide or antithymocyte serum was found to aggravate the clinical course and to modify the histological lesions in the central nervous system as well as the level of antibody response to the virus in cerebrospinal fluid. Possible application of distemper encephalomyelitis in monkeys as a primate model for analysis of the immune mechanism involved in paramyxovirus-induced encephalomyelitis was discussed.