Studies on interferon induction by five strains of West nile virus in brains of suckling mice

In a previous study, it was reported that thirty-seven arboviruses, belonging to different antigenic groups could be divided into three groups-high, moderate and low inducers-depending on their ability to induce interferon in brains of sucking mice. However, only one strain (prototype and/or topotype) of each virus was used in that study. Different strains of a virus including some arboviruses, are known to differ in their ability to induce interferon. In the present study, interferon inducing abilities of five strains of WN virus isolated from bat, mosquito and human sources have been determined. Further, an attempt has been made to correlate this property with other biological properties described earlier.