Theiler's encephalomyelitis virus Theiler's encephalomyelitis virus Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus (TMEV) is a single-stranded RNA murine cardiovirus from the family "Picornaviridae". It has been used as a mouse model for studying virally induced paralysis, as well as encephalomyelitis comparable to Multiple sclerosis. Depending on the mouse and viral strain, viral pathogenesis can range from negligible, to chronic or acute encephalomyelitis. The virus was discovered by virologist Max Theiler in 1937 while working at the Rockefeller Institute. Theiler discovered the encephalomyelitis virus during research on poliovirus-like paralysis symptoms in mice. That year Theiler had completed work on developing a vaccine for Yellow Fever, for
Yellow fever vaccine neurologic complications in a few cases. Attempts to attenuate the virus used in the vaccine failed. Scientists at the Rockefeller Foundation developed another vaccine derived from the serum of an African named Asibi in 1927, the first isolation of the virus from a human. It was safer but involved the use of large amounts of human serum, which limited widespread use. Both vaccines were in use for several years, the Rockefeller vaccine in the Western hemisphere and England, and the Pasteur Institute vaccine in France and its African colonies. In 1937, Max Theiler, working with Hugh Smith at the Rockefeller