Polyomavirus (B.K.)

Gardner et al. (1971) described the isolation of a polyoma-like virus (B.K.) from the urine of a Sudanese patient who developed ureteric obstruction four months after a renal transplant operation. The virus was recovered from his urine on five separate occasions over a period of 16 days, and a noticeable increase in antibody to this virus was found in serial sera obtained from him. Both the patient and his donor brother were found to have antibody at the time of the transplant. B.K. virus belongs to a group of animal viruses which have an oncogenic potential. As it was isolated from man it was clearly of importance to determine how common it was in the population and whether it was associated with any particular clinical condition. A serological survey was therefore begun to assess the prevalence in England of antibody to this apparently new virus by the techniques of complement fixation and haemagglutination inhibition. The results of these investigations are presented in this report.