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. 1978 Apr;80(2):183–196. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400053535

Studies on Rift Valley fever in some African murids (Rodentia: Muridae).

R Swanepoel, N K Blackburn, S Efstratiou, J B Condy
PMCID: PMC2130003  PMID: 632561

Abstract

Brains, spleens and livers of 2214 murids, 27 shrews and 7 dormice, trapped at 7 sites in Rhodesia, were tested in 277 pools for the presence of Rift Valley Fever virus. There were no isolations of Rift Valley Fever, but 69 isolations of an unidentified virus were obtained. Sixteen out of 867 sera had low-titre haemagglutination-inhibition activity against Rift Valley Fever antigen, but only one out of 1260 sera had neutralizing antibody. The evidence suggests that murids fail to encounter infection in nature and are unlikely to play a role in circulation and dissemination of Rift Valley Fever virus. Four out of seven widely distributed species of muried, Rhabdomys pumilio, Saccostomys campestris, Aethomys chrysophilus and Lemniscomys griselda, were shown to be capable of circulating amounts of virus likely to be infective for mosquitoes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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