Infection of canine mononuclear leucocytes by measles virus: possible mechanism of protection from canine distemper

Abstract

Measles virus was shown to be infectious to canine lymphocytes from peripheral blood as well as from different lymphoid tissues, and the same held true for canine macrophage cultures prepared from peripheral blood. The susceptibility of these leucocytes to measles virus was comparable with that of canine distemper virus. These observations supported the suggestion that interference with canine distemper virus by measles could be a possible mechanism of the heterotypic immunity observed in dogs.