1 am j vet res 1953 jan1450111 2 electron microscopic study of the virus of rabies article in undetermined language reagan rl day wc harmon mp brueckner al. Rabies virus is in the family of rhabdoviruses when viewed with an electron microscope rhabdoviruses are seen as bullet shaped particles rabies virus budding from an inclusion negri body into the endoplasmic reticulum in a nerve cell a negri body. In a recent study electron microscopy has shown that purified rabies virus glycoprotein particles have the club shaped appearance of envelope spikes with a total length of 100 i 15 extending 65 75 from the trans parent layer of the envelope the spikes therefore penetrate that layer which is 75 110 thick to a depth of 25 50 a neurath et al microbios in press. The initial alteration of the cell surface structure revealed by scanning electron microscopy was an appearance of elongated and reticulated microvilli on the 2nd day after virus inoculation on the 3rd day numerous bullet shaped virions could be seen budding as single tetrapod like structures and as radial projections both from the perikarya and microvilli