STUDIES ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF RABIES IN INSECTIVOROUS BATS : II. INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE.

Studies on the influence of environmental temperature on the pathogenesis of rabies in two species of experimentally infected Chiroptera, the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida mexicana) and the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), provided evidence that little or no viral multiplication occurs in the inactive host during experimentally induced hibernation. When inoculated animals are wakened from hibernation by transfer to a warm room, virus previously in "cold storage" multiplies, reaching detectable levels in various tissues. Similar results were obtained with two strains of rabies virus, a canine rabies street virus which produced a fatal infection in man and a strain isolated from the pooled brown fat of naturally infected little brown bats.