Terminal dissemination of rabies virus in selected rat tissues.

Fifty rats were divided into 3 groups and challenged via the foot pad route with a fixed and 2 different strains of street rabies virus in order to study the dissemination of the virus and the affinity for certain tissues of the rat. The incubation period for rats inoculated with fixed rabies is shorter than with street virus, being 5 to 7 days compared with 10 to 12 days. Rats inoculated with the fixed strain were less aggressive and irritable than rats inoculated with street virus. The fixed strain demonstrated a greater affinity for the tissues studied as compared to the street strains of virus. Both the fixed and street strains revealed a low affinity for the parotid gland since no virus could be demonstrated in 14 of 20 in the fixed virus group and 27 of 30 in the street virus group.