Detection of varicella-zoster virus nucleic acid in neurons of normal human thoracic ganglia.

Tissue sections from four normal human thoracic ganglia were hybridized in situ with a varicella-zoster virus-RNA probe. Varicella-zoster virus was detected in two of four ganglia, localized exclusively in neurons. The detection of latent varicella-zoster virus genetic material in thoracic ganglia provides further evidence of varicella-zoster virus latency at multiple levels of the human neuraxis and supports the notion that the neuron is the primary site of herpesvirus latency.