FAMILY BORRELIOTACEAE 



1235 



1. Scelus recurrens spec. nov. From 

 Latin recnrrere, to recur. Note : The 

 name A'eurocystis herpetii Levaditi and 

 Schoen (Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 

 96, 1927, 961 ) was applied provisionally to 

 the causative microorganism of herpes, 

 in the expectation that future research 

 would show inclusion bodies in affected 

 tissues to be stages in its life cycle. 



Common names : Herpes virus, virus of 

 herpes simplex, virus of herpes febrilis 

 (not herpes zoster virus, for which see 

 varicella virus), virus of keratitis dendri- 

 tica, virus of aphthous stomatitis (of 

 man). 



Host: HOMINIDAE—Homo sapiens 

 L., man. Experimentally, also rabbit, 

 guinea pig, white mouse, cat, goose, hedge- 

 hog, and, though difficult to infect, dog 

 and pigeon. Chick embryo (but not 

 chicken). Also CERCOPITHECIDAE 

 — Cercocebus fuligiriosus E. Geoffrey, 

 Macacus cynomolgus. CEBIDAE — Ce- 

 bus olivaceus. 



Insusceptible species: White rat; Bufo 

 viridis; Cercopithecus callithrix; chicken 

 (except embryo). 



Geographical distribution: Probably 

 world-wide. 



Induced disease : In man, usually 

 acquired in ffrst three years of life, some- 

 times as aphthous stomatitis; virus prob- 

 ably retained often through life, some- 

 times with periodic reappearance of der- 

 mal lesions, which are vesicular and heal 

 soon. In white mouse, by experimental 

 inoculation of skin, small inflamed vesicu- 

 lar primary lesions about 5 days after in- 

 oculation, usually forming scabs and 

 healing a few days later, but sometimes 

 persisting; if on tail, followed by swelling 

 and paralysis of tail, ascending paralysis 

 and death, or by recovery with acquired 

 immunity; if near head, followed by en- 

 cephalitis and death ; intraperitoneal and 

 sometimes other inoculations immunize ; 

 relapse with recurrence of primary lesions 

 rare. In chick embryo, white, opaque, 

 circular or ring-like primary lesions of 

 small size on chorioallantoic membrane, 

 with or without necrotic secondary 

 lesions in liver, heart, lungs, spleen, and 



kidneys ; virus enters membrane 1 to 4 

 hours after it is dropped on its surface; 

 primary lesions may be counted in 48 

 hours. 



Transmission: Bj- contacts. Experi- 

 mentally, by skin scarification ; in guinea 

 pig, by feeding. 



Serological relationships : Distant rela- 

 tionship to pseudorabies virus, Scelus 

 suillum, shown by moderate protection 

 against this virus conferred by some anti- 

 herpes sera. No relationship to vaccinia 

 virus or to virus III of rabbits demon- 

 strable by neutralization tests. Specific 

 complement fixation. Neutralizing anti- 

 body forms reversible union with virus, 

 at least for a time, though with strong 

 mixtures partial irreversibility finally 

 occurs. 



Immunological relationships: Formal- 

 inized virus and non-lethal strains of 

 virus immunize specifically. No cross 

 immunity with vaccinia virus. 



Thermal inactivation : At 50 to 52° C in 

 30 minutes, when moist; at 90 to 100° C 

 in 30 minutes, when dry. At 41.5° C in 

 50 to 80 hours. 



Filterability : Passes Berkefeld V filter 

 with slight loss. 



Other properties : Diameter, by centrif- 

 ugation, computed as 180 to 220 milli- 

 microns; by filtration, 100 to 150 

 millimicrons. Specific gravity, 1.15. In- 

 activated by repeated freezing and thaw- 

 ing; also by pressure of 3000 atmospheres 

 for 30 minutes. Viable dry at least 

 18 months at 4° C, in 50 per cent glycerine 

 at least 6 months. Not inactivated at 4° 

 C in 1 per cent aqueous gentian violet. 

 Charged negatively in solutions of hy- 

 drogen-ion concentration up to about pH 

 8. Isoelectric point, pH 7.2 to 7.6. In- 

 activated by incubation in vitro at pH 6 

 with synthetic vitamin C (ascorbic acid). 



Literature : Anderson, Science, 90, 

 1939, 497; Am. Jour. Path., 16, 1940, 137- 

 156; Andervont, Jour. Inf. Dis., U, 1929, 

 383-393; 45, 1929, 366-385; 49, 1931, 507- 

 529; Andrewes, Jour. Path, and Bact., 

 33, 1930, 301-312; Bassett et al., Compt. 

 rend. Acad. Sci., Paris, 200, 1935, 1882- 

 1884; Bechhold and Schlesinger, Ztschr. 



