Studies on herpetic infection in mice. V. Influence of route of inoculation on susceptibility to herpetic infection; effect of age, and of methylcholanthrene.

1. The severity of herpetic infection, of mice varied according to the site of inoculation, decreasing in the following order: cornea, skin of abdomen, pad of hind foot, tail. 2. The preliminary treatment of the foot pad or tail with methylcholanthrene increased the susceptibility to herpetic infection to a limited extent. 3. Two-week-old mice showed a much greater susceptibility to herpes virus inoculated on the tail or on the pad of the hind foot than did adult mice. 4. The HF strain of herpes virus, after more than 125 serial brain-to-brain passages in mice, possessed high virulence for cutaneous tissues of mice and showed no important differences in this respect from a recently isolated strain (Klee) of herpes virus.