Carnivores and cold virus

[Ian A. York]

In article <xE-ZmTw.ksturts at delphi.com> Keith Sturts <ksturts at delphi.com> writes:
>I'm not a virologist but am interested in the reason why some families of
>mammals are not susceptible to some viruses, such as the common cold virus
>in humans.  It is hard to find this information and I thought some one here
>would know.

	Depending on what you're trying to ask, your hypothesis is likely 
wrong.  There are species specific receptors, cell factors, etc that 
prevent particular viruses from entering or efficiently infecting cells 
from another species.  But there are very few examples of species which 
do not get infected by a particular *family* of viruses.  I.e. dogs get 
adenoviruses, and I think rhinoviruses as well.  

Ian
-- 
Ian York   (york at mbcrr.harvard.edu)
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney St., Boston MA 02115
Phone (617)-632-3921     Fax  (617)-632-2627