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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » ABADRU » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #345093
Title: Mouse model for the Rift Valley fever virus MP12 strain infection

Author
item LANG, YUKEN - Kansas State University
item HENNINGSON, JAMIE - Kansas State University
item Jasperson, Dane
item YONGHAI, LEE - Kansas State University
item JINGLIAO, MA - Kansas State University
item CAO, N - Kansas State University
item LIU, HAIXIA - Kansas State University
item Wilson, William
item RICHT, JUERGEN - Kansas State University
item Ruder, Mark
item McVey, David
item MA, WENJUN - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Veterinary Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2016
Publication Date: 9/20/2016
Citation: Lang, Y., Henningson, J., Jasperson, D.C., Yonghai, L., Jingliao, M., Cao, N., Liu, H., Wilson, W.C., Richt, J.A., Ruder, M.G., Mcvey, D.S., Ma, W. 2016. Mouse model for the Rift Valley fever virus MP12 strain infection. Veterinary Microbiology. 195:70-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.09.009.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.09.009

Interpretive Summary: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an important and lethal pathogen of domestic livestock primarily associated with cattle, sheep and goats that is endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. The virus is zoonotic and can lead to blindness and death in humans. This manuscripts describes the evaluation of various mouse strains using a safe vaccine strain to develop a model system to evaluate potential antiviral therapies.

Technical Abstract: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), a Category A pathogen and select agent, is the causative agent of Rift Valley fever. To date, no fully licensed vaccine is available in the U.S. for human or animal use and effective antiviral drugs have not been identified. The RVFV MP12 strain is conditionally licensed for use for veterinary purposes in the U.S. which was excluded from the select agent rule of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The MP12 vaccine strain is commonly used in BSL-2 laboratories that is generally not virulent in mice. To establish a small animal model that can be used in a BSL-2 facility for antiviral drug development, we investigated susceptibility of six mouse strains (129S6/ SvEv, STAT-1 KO, 129S1/SvlmJ, C57BL/6J, NZW/LacJ, BALB/c) to the MP12 virus infection via an intranasal inoculation route. Severe weight loss, obvious clinical and neurologic signs, and 50% mortality was observed in the STAT-1 KO mice, whereas the other 5 mouse strains did not display obvious and/or severe disease. Virus replication and histopathological lesions were detected in brain and liver of MP12-infected STAT-1 KO mice that developed the acute-onset hepatitis and delayed-onset encephalitis. In conclusion, the STAT-1 KO mouse strain is susceptible to MP12 virus infection, indicating that it can be used to investigate RVFV antivirals in a BSL-2 environment.