Exposing a Virus Hiding in the Animal Facility
Roediger et al. (2018) demonstrate that a kidney disease characterized by apparently spontaneous nephropathy that had been recognized in laboratory mice for many years is caused by a newly recognized virus named the mouse kidney parvovirus (MKPV). That virus appears to be widespread in mouse colonies as it is not detected by current diagnostic tools, and its recognition presents new opportunities for understanding the pathology of tubulointerstitial fibrosis.