A New Kidney Virus

Abstract

THE discovery of large acidophil intranuclear bodies in the convoluted tubule cells of the kidneys of London sewer rats¹ has led to the examination of rats from other localities in order to determine the prevalence of these structures. The results of this examination have shown that intranuclear bodies are almost invariably present in London sewer rats, including both Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus, but in rats from other localities have been found only in those which presumably might have lived in sewers or fed on town refuse, and have been absent from rats caught in the country under hay-stacks, or in similar localities. Moreover, with two exceptions, they have never been found in white rats, including both normal individuals and others infected with various diseases, or exposed to the action of kidney irritants, such as uranium nitrate. The two exceptions were rats which had been kept with infected sewer rats and may have acquired the infection from them.