Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus
Lujo virus (LUJV) is a novel member of the Arenaviridae family that was first identified in 2008 after an outbreak of severe hemorrhagic fever (HF). In what was a small but rapidly progressing outbreak, this previously unknown virus was transmitted from the critically ill index patient to 4 attendin...
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| Format: | Online |
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Public Library of Science
2012
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429401/ |
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pubmed-3429401 |
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pubmed-34294012012-09-05 Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus Bird, Brian H. Dodd, Kimberly A. Erickson, Bobbie R. Albariño, César G. Chakrabarti, Ayan K. McMullan, Laura K. Bergeron, Eric Ströeher, Ute Cannon, Deborah Martin, Brock Coleman-McCray, JoAnn D. Nichol, Stuart T. Spiropoulou, Christina F. Research Article Lujo virus (LUJV) is a novel member of the Arenaviridae family that was first identified in 2008 after an outbreak of severe hemorrhagic fever (HF). In what was a small but rapidly progressing outbreak, this previously unknown virus was transmitted from the critically ill index patient to 4 attending healthcare workers. Four persons died during this outbreak, for a total case fatality of 80% (4/5). The suspected rodent source of the initial exposure to LUJV remains a mystery. Because of the ease of transmission, high case fatality, and novel nature of LUJV, we sought to establish an animal model of LUJV HF. Initial attempts in mice failed, but infection of inbred strain 13/N guinea pigs resulted in lethal disease. A total of 41 adult strain 13/N guinea pigs were infected with either wild-type LUJV or a full-length recombinant LUJV. Results demonstrated that strain 13/N guinea pigs provide an excellent model of severe and lethal LUJV HF that closely resembles what is known of the human disease. All infected animals experienced consistent weight loss (3–5% per day) and clinical illness characterized by ocular discharge, ruffled fur, hunched posture, and lethargy. Uniform lethality occurred by 11–16 days post-infection. All animals developed disseminated LUJV infection in various organs (liver, spleen, lung, and kidney), and leukopenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy, and elevated transaminase levels. Serial euthanasia studies revealed a temporal pattern of virus dissemination and increasing severity of disease, primarily targeting the liver, spleen, lungs, and lower gastrointestinal tract. Establishing an animal LUJV model is an important first step towards understanding the high pathogenicity of LUJV and developing vaccines and antiviral therapeutic drugs for this highly transmissible and lethal emerging pathogen. Public Library of Science 2012-08-28 /pmc/articles/PMC3429401/ /pubmed/22953019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001801 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Bird, Brian H. Dodd, Kimberly A. Erickson, Bobbie R. Albariño, César G. Chakrabarti, Ayan K. McMullan, Laura K. Bergeron, Eric Ströeher, Ute Cannon, Deborah Martin, Brock Coleman-McCray, JoAnn D. Nichol, Stuart T. Spiropoulou, Christina F. |
| spellingShingle |
Bird, Brian H. Dodd, Kimberly A. Erickson, Bobbie R. Albariño, César G. Chakrabarti, Ayan K. McMullan, Laura K. Bergeron, Eric Ströeher, Ute Cannon, Deborah Martin, Brock Coleman-McCray, JoAnn D. Nichol, Stuart T. Spiropoulou, Christina F. Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| author_facet |
Bird, Brian H. Dodd, Kimberly A. Erickson, Bobbie R. Albariño, César G. Chakrabarti, Ayan K. McMullan, Laura K. Bergeron, Eric Ströeher, Ute Cannon, Deborah Martin, Brock Coleman-McCray, JoAnn D. Nichol, Stuart T. Spiropoulou, Christina F. |
| author_sort |
Bird, Brian H. |
| title |
Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| title_short |
Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| title_full |
Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| title_fullStr |
Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Severe Hemorrhagic Fever in Strain 13/N Guinea Pigs Infected with Lujo Virus |
| title_sort |
severe hemorrhagic fever in strain 13/n guinea pigs infected with lujo virus |
| description |
Lujo virus (LUJV) is a novel member of the Arenaviridae family that was first identified in 2008 after an outbreak of severe hemorrhagic fever (HF). In what was a small but rapidly progressing outbreak, this previously unknown virus was transmitted from the critically ill index patient to 4 attending healthcare workers. Four persons died during this outbreak, for a total case fatality of 80% (4/5). The suspected rodent source of the initial exposure to LUJV remains a mystery. Because of the ease of transmission, high case fatality, and novel nature of LUJV, we sought to establish an animal model of LUJV HF. Initial attempts in mice failed, but infection of inbred strain 13/N guinea pigs resulted in lethal disease. A total of 41 adult strain 13/N guinea pigs were infected with either wild-type LUJV or a full-length recombinant LUJV. Results demonstrated that strain 13/N guinea pigs provide an excellent model of severe and lethal LUJV HF that closely resembles what is known of the human disease. All infected animals experienced consistent weight loss (3–5% per day) and clinical illness characterized by ocular discharge, ruffled fur, hunched posture, and lethargy. Uniform lethality occurred by 11–16 days post-infection. All animals developed disseminated LUJV infection in various organs (liver, spleen, lung, and kidney), and leukopenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy, and elevated transaminase levels. Serial euthanasia studies revealed a temporal pattern of virus dissemination and increasing severity of disease, primarily targeting the liver, spleen, lungs, and lower gastrointestinal tract. Establishing an animal LUJV model is an important first step towards understanding the high pathogenicity of LUJV and developing vaccines and antiviral therapeutic drugs for this highly transmissible and lethal emerging pathogen. |
| publisher |
Public Library of Science |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429401/ |
| _version_ |
1611552650814291968 |