The Etiology of Epidemic Poliomyelitis

Streptococci have been isolated from the central nervous system of monkeys dead of poliomyelitis. Streptococci have also been isolated from the central nervous system of monkeys dead of other causes as well as from the brains of normal rabbits. Streptococci isolated from poliomyelitic monkeys do not differ from those isolated from monkeys and rabbits dead from other causes. An etiological relation has not been established between streptococci and poliomyelitis. We have at several times isolated an organism that was similar to the globoid bodies culturally, morphologically, and in staining reaction, but have not been able to carry it along for more than three generations. The pathogenicity of these organisms has therefore not been tested on monkeys. We have not been able to produce typical lesions of poliomyelitis in rabbits by the injection of either the poliomyelitic virus or streptococci.