The effect of rubella and herpesvirus hominis on the pre- and post-implantation stages of pregnancy in laboratory animals

The teratogenic effect of rubella virus in humans has now been well documented (Ingalls, Plotkin, Meyer & Parkman, 1967) and virus isolation studies have suggested that rubella virus causes embryopathy by actually infecting the cells of the developing foetus (Alford, Neva & Weller, 1964). However, a laboratory animal model is required for controlled studies of the teratogenic activity of rubella virus and for the assessment of possible preventative measures. Such an animal system would also be useful for screening attenuated rubella vaccine strains for teratogenic properties. Pregnant primates have been used in preliminary experiments with rubella virus (Parkman, Phillips & Meyer, 1965) but suffer from the disadvantages of size, expense and difficulty of mating. Both the hamster (Ferm & Kilham, 1965) and the rabbit (Gibson, Staples & Newberne, 1966) have proved useful animals for the investigation of teratogenic agents.