Abstract
A virus was isolated from a mink kit which was suffering from infectious diarrhea by direct kidney cell cultures. This virus formed large intranuclear inclusions in the cell cultures of feline origin. Many inclusions were observed when the virus was inoculated on the cells prior to the formation of cell sheet. The incidence of these inclusions decreased when the virus was inoculated on the complete monolayers. The nucleic acid type of the virus is DNA. The virus particle is a sphere with a diameter of approximately 24nm. It is stable to organic solvents, acid and heat. The virus agglutinated pig, green monkey and crab-eating monkey erythrocytes at 4°C under the condition of pH 6.5 and 6.8. The infectivity of the virus was neutralized with antisera against mink enteritis virus or feline panleukopenia virus. Hemagglutination of the virus was inhibited by the same sera. According to the results of these morphological, physicochemical and sero-logical tests, the virus was identified as mink enteritis virus. Specific pathogen-free cat, which was inoculated with the virus, showed anorexia and vomiting. In the cat, total leukocyte counts decreased significantly and antibodies to the virus were detected. Contact infection was observed.
