A hamster model for Marburg virus infection accurately recapitulates Marburg hemorrhagic fever

Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 15:6:39214. doi: 10.1038/srep39214.

Abstract

Marburg virus (MARV), a close relative of Ebola virus, is the causative agent of a severe human disease known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF). No licensed vaccine or therapeutic exists to treat MHF, and MARV is therefore classified as a Tier 1 select agent and a category A bioterrorism agent. In order to develop countermeasures against this severe disease, animal models that accurately recapitulate human disease are required. Here we describe the development of a novel, uniformly lethal Syrian golden hamster model of MHF using a hamster-adapted MARV variant Angola. Remarkably, this model displayed almost all of the clinical features of MHF seen in humans and non-human primates, including coagulation abnormalities, hemorrhagic manifestations, petechial rash, and a severely dysregulated immune response. This MHF hamster model represents a powerful tool for further dissecting MARV pathogenesis and accelerating the development of effective medical countermeasures against human MHF.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blood Coagulation Disorders / etiology
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • Cricetinae
  • Cytokines / genetics
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fibrinogen / analysis
  • Hemorrhage / etiology
  • Immunity, Innate
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Liver / pathology
  • Marburg Virus Disease / immunology
  • Marburg Virus Disease / mortality
  • Marburg Virus Disease / pathology*
  • Marburg Virus Disease / virology
  • Marburgvirus / genetics
  • Marburgvirus / isolation & purification
  • Marburgvirus / pathogenicity*
  • Mutation
  • Partial Thromboplastin Time
  • Prothrombin Time
  • RNA, Viral / genetics
  • RNA, Viral / isolation & purification
  • RNA, Viral / metabolism
  • Spleen / pathology
  • Vero Cells

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • RNA, Viral
  • Fibrinogen