Effect of Immunization of Mothers on Cytomegalovirus Infection in Suckling Mice

Female weanling mice were immunized with suspensions of MCMV infected salivary glands, then mated. Protection was conferred to their young by breast feeding, and to a lesser extent it was acquired in utero. Protection was manifested by a reduction in mortality, and by a reduction in the quantity of virus recovered from brain, liver, spleen, and salivary gland after challenge with 30 LD50. Neutralization antibody (plaque reducing activity) was present in serum of immunized females and in the plasma of sucklings born of and nursed by them, or those only nursed by them. It was not present in unimmunized females or in sucklings born of but not nursed by immunized females.