Effects of viral infection on nervous system development. I. Pathogenesis of bluetongue virus infection in mice.

Bluetongue vaccine virus was adapted to mice by serial intracerebral passage. The adapted virus was found to multiply selectively in immature cells of the subventricular zone of the forebrain and spread along cell migratory pathways to the olfactory bulbs, caudate/putamen, hippocampus and areas of cerebral cortex. Symmetrical, mineralized, partially cavitated lesions developed in these areas as a sequela of the infection. Infection of fetal mice led to more severe cerebral malformation, and infection of 2-week-old mice resulted in very limited multiplication without sequelae. The pattern of infection correlated with the maturation and migration of cells within the developing telencephalon.