ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors examine the role of the interferon system in rhabdovirus infections, considering, in turn, rhabdoviruses as inducers of interferon and as infectious agents sensitive to its action. They also examine the prospects of interferon as an antiviral agent in diseases of rhabdovirus etiology and consider the concept that the prophylactic efficacy of vaccines for rabies may depend, in part, on their content of interferon-inducing particles. The interferon system appears as a formidable means of preventing the dire consequences of infection by rhabdoviruses, attesting to the acute sensitivity of this family of viruses to interferon action. Vesicular stomatitis virus is generally considered a poor inducer of interferon. In view of the efficient interferon-inducing capacity of certain defective-interfering particles, mutants, and revenants of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) revealed by in vitro studies, it perhaps is not surprising to read reports of interferon induction by VSV in vivo.
