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
Gertrud Theiler Africa, was named after Dr. Theiler in honor of the many years she dedicated to the collection. The argasid tick "Argas theilerae" (Hoogstraal and Kaiser, 1970), "Theiler's African white-backed vulture argasid," and the ixodid tick "Rhipicephalus gertrudae" (Feldman-Muhsam, 1960) were named to honor Dr Theiler for her many contributions to tick research. Theiler was the youngest daughter of Sir Arnold Theiler , founder and first director of the Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, and his wife, Emma Sophie Jegge; in 1971, she authored a biography of her father. She was a sister of virologist Max Theiler, who was awarded the 1951 Nobel