DETECTION OF ENTEROTROPIC MOUSE HEPATITIS-VIRUS FECAL EXCRETION BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

A reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction method was devel oped and used to detect fecal excretion of enterotropic mouse hepatiti s virus (MHV). A nested set of primers for polymerase chain reaction w as located in the polymerase region of the MHV genome. The assay was u sed to follow the time course of enterotropic MHV excretion in mice af ter oronasal inoculation with the virus. The assay detected MHV genome excretion in all mice beginning on day 3 through day 21 after inocula tion. No MHV genome was detected in inoculated mice on or after day 27 following inoculation. This time course of detection of excreted viru s corresponded to the period of infectivity of this isolate in a previ ous study. These results indicate that reverse transcription and polym erase chain reaction are useful for enterotropic MHV detection in spec imens that are easily and noninvasively obtained and are clinically re levant.