Formation of non-infectious influenza virus in mouse lungs: its dependence upon extensive pulmonary consolidation initiated by the viral inoculum.

Formation of non-infectious virus-particles which hemagglutinate red blood cells and react with antibody to fix complement but do not infect the chick embryo or mouse-occurred when large quantities of certain strains of influenza viruses were inoculated intranasally into mice. Dependent upon the agent employed, 10(6.5) to 10(8.5) E.I.D. was essential to elicit this phenomenon. To accomplish this unusual multiplication it was essential to use a strain of virus which effected extensive pulmonary consolidation; strains of virus which did not produce marked lung lesions, even when as much as 10(8.5) E.I.D. was inoculated, did not form non-infectious virus. The development of this viral form was directly dependent upon the extent of cell damage obtained: consolidation of more than 50 per cent of the lung volume was required. The majority of non-infectious particles developed during the initial cycle of viral multiplication, and concurrently with the formation of non-infectious virus there was a corresponding decrease in the number of infectious viral particles. Non-infectious virus could not be propagated on serial passage in mouse lungs: on second lung passage only fully infectious virus was detectable. The formation of the non-infectious viral form was not the result of interference with synthesis of infectious virus by inactivated virus in the inoculum; for inoculation of heated infected allantoic fluid which contained more than 99 per cent of non-infectious virus did not result in the development of new non-infectious virus. Although inoculation of a large quantity of virus resulted in infection which yielded a relatively low titer of infectious and high titer of non-infectious virus, inoculation of a small quantity of the agent resulted in a high yield of infectious virus and no non-infectious that was detectable. In both instances the total quantity of antigenic viral material synthesized in the mouse lungs was the same. These data do not support the hypothesis that the non-infectious virus formed consisted of immature or incomplete viral particles, but suggest instead that non-infectious virus is inactivated virus or some aberrant form of the agent.