Immunofluorescence studies on the pathogenesis of hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus infection in pigs after oronasal inoculation.

Hemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (HEV; also designated vomiting and wasting disease virus) was inoculated oronasally in 14 colostrum-deprived pigs at the day of birth. Anorexia and vomition were seen after 4 days. Pigs were killed at different times after inoculation, and the results of the examination by immunofluorescent antibody technique revealed that the epithelial cells of nasal mucosa, tonsils, lungs, and small intestine served as sites of primary viral replication. After the local replication near the sites of entry, the virus spread via peripheral nervous system to the CNS. During the incubation period, viral antigens were detected in the trigeminal ganglion,the inferior vagal ganglion, the superior cervical ganglion, the intestinal nervous plexuses, the solar ganglion, and the dorsal root ganglia of the lower thoracic region. In the brain stem, the infection started in the trigeminal and vagal sensory nuclei and spread to other nuclei and to the rostral part of the brain stem. In later stages of the infection, viral spread into the cerebrum, cerebellum, and spinal cord was sometimes also observed. Viral replication in nervous plexuses of the stomach was not present during the incubation period, but was detected in all except 1 of the pigs that were ill when killed. The question whether the vomition is induced centrally by viral replication in the brain stem or is due to viral replication in peripheral nervous tissues remains unanswered.