EPIDEMICS of poliomyelitis usually start about the time fruits
and vegetables begin to ripen. This is true not only for
epidemics in the north, but also for those in the south
temperate zone.1 Many patients with poliomyelitis admitted to
City Hospital, Cleveland, gave a history of eating fruits just
prior to the onset of the disease and often spontaneously
connected the eating of fruits with the disease. One of us
(Toomey) has often suggested that the virus which causes the
infection could be carried into the gastrointestinal tract
either in or on food. He has made numerous, but unsuccessful,
attempts to initiate and to propagate the disease in animals by
injecting extracts or washings from fruits and vegetables.2
Peaches are frequently implicated by the laity, and these stone
fruits are often infected with viruses. It occurred to us that
Prunus virus I (peach yellows), or some other virus