POLIOMYELITIS IN CANADIAN ESKIMOS

This paper describes further laboratory studies undertaken to investigate the immunological aspects of the outbreak of poliomyelitis in the Canadian Eastern Arctic in the winter of 1948-1949. No evidence was found that any of three strains of virus recovered from Eskimos was pathogenic for cotton rats or mice. No strains of Coxsackie virus were recovered. Main attention is directed to the examination of 51 sera from 40 persons (34 Eskimos) involved in the outbreak for the presence of neutralizing antibody to Lansing poliomyelitis virus. Antibody was found in the acute phase serum of two of three patients, and in the con valescent phase serum of about half of those tested. The serum of six of eight healthy Eskimos and five of six white contacts contained antibody. It seemed that antibody started to appear in the serum from the age of 10 onwards, the serum of most adults proving positive. It is concluded that the presence of Lansing antibody in the serum of the Eskimos was the result of previous exposure to Lansing virus and was unrelated to the current epidemic. The world-wide prevalence of Lansing antibody and by inference of Lansing virus is evident.