Susceptibility of Australian Feral Mice to Ectromelia Virus

Abstract

Feral mice from western Victoria, the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, and the Darling Downs of south Queensland, have been infected with ectromelia virus in a laboratory. There is no evidence that the virus is endemic in the feral mice. The infectivity of ectromelia is similar in all groups of feral mice, and in laboratory mice. The lethality of the infection is high in the Victorian mice, whereas mice from the other regions have moderate to high levels of innate resistance. Possible consequences of the release of ectromelia, to prevent or terminate mouse plagues, are discussed.