Spread of infectious virus along the optic nerve into the retina in Borna disease virus-infected rabbits.

Selective damage of the optic nerve of 14 rabbits without interfering with the choroidal blood flow which supplies the retina and without altering the autonomic nerve supply was successfully achieved by Xenon coagulation. This procedure interrupted the axonal pathway between the brain and the eye. After experimental infection with Borna disease virus the typical disease could be induced. The pathognomonic retinopathy as well as characteristic perivascular choroidal infiltrates, however, did not appear in eyes with coagulated nerve heads. In general virus-specific antigen or infectious virus were not present in the retinas of such damaged eyes. These results permit the conclusion that the ocular expression of Borna disease is a consequence of virus transport via the optic nerve.