Histopathology and distribution of viral antigens in hamsters infected with virulent and benign Venezuelan encephalitis viruses.

Lethalities and virulences of Venezuelan encephalitis (VE) viruses for hamsters were found to correlate with severity of histopathologic lesions in hematopoietic and brain tissues. Highly virulent strains (subtype I) destroyed marrow and lymphoid cells rapidly and produced intestinal wall damage; focal brain hemorrhages and destruction of Purkinje cells also occurred within the 4 to 5 days between subcutaneous inoculation and death. Like subtype I virus, a slightly less virulent strain (subtype II) also caused necrosis of bone marrow and brain lesions, but only minimal lymphoid cell damage occurred. The less virulent subtype III VE virus, which killed hamsters between 4 and 14 days after inoculation, usually caused no lesions in hematopoietic tissues, and deaths were related chiefly to hemorrhagic brain lesions and necrosis of Purkinje cells. Two VE viruses, benign for hamsters (the TC-83 attenuated vaccine strain and subtype IV), usually caused no necrosis of hematopoietic or brain tissues; focal extravasations of blood and swollen glial cells were found in brains of the rare hamsters that died. The degrees of necrosis seen in tissues stained with hematoxylin and eosin correlated with the quantities of viral antigens detected by fluorescent antibody, except in pancreas and small intestinal smooth muscle and glands, where antigens of subtype I virus were present without morphologic damage.