I.g. inoculation of tcMCMV limits viral titers to the salivary glands. Viral titers were determined in (A, B) salivary gland, (C, D) spleen, (E, F) liver, and (G, H) lung from Balb/c mice inoculated i.p (closed symbols, solid lines) or i.g. (open symbols, dashed lines) with MCMV (A, C, E. G) or tcMCMV (B, D, F, H) using a standard plaque assay. PFU/mg tissue sample are shown. Results are pooled averages ± standard deviation from 5–6 mice per time point from 2 – 3 independent experiments. Detection limits were 0.1 PFU/mg for salivary gland, spleen and lung, and 0.2 PFU/mg for liver. *p<0.05, i.p. MCMV vs. i.g. MCMV