Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV)
Borrow P.
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is an arenavirus that is a natural pathogen of mice but can be transmitted to humans. Human infection with LCMV is frequently asymptomatic, but it may be associated with aseptic meningitis or, more rarely, meningoencephalitis. The meningitis is thought to be immunopathological, resulting from recruitment of antiviral CD8+ T cells to sites of LCMV replication in the meninges where they trigger an influx of myelomonocytic cells that cause vascular damage leading to edema. Congenital LCMV infection is an often unrecognized cause of chorioretinitis, hydrocephalus, microcephaly, or macrocephaly and mental retardation.