Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets

ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) has been responsible for sporadic outbreaks in Central Africa since 1976 and has the potential of causing social disruption and public panic as illustrated by the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa. Transmission of EBOV has been described to occur via contact with infected...

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Autores principales:	Marc-Antoine de La Vega, Geoff Soule, Kaylie N. Tran, Kevin Tierney, Shihua He, Gary Wong, Xiangguo Qiu, Gary P. Kobinger
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2018
Materias:	animal models Ebola virus ferret filovirus transmission Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b53ec316cd5e409dab3dac5fb4173d6d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b53ec316cd5e409dab3dac5fb4173d6d2021-11-15T15:22:26ZModeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets10.1128/mSphere.00309-182379-5042https://doaj.org/article/b53ec316cd5e409dab3dac5fb4173d6d2018-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSphere.00309-18https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5042ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) has been responsible for sporadic outbreaks in Central Africa since 1976 and has the potential of causing social disruption and public panic as illustrated by the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa. Transmission of EBOV has been described to occur via contact with infected bodily fluids, supported by data indicating that infectious EBOV could be cultured from blood, semen, saliva, urine, and breast milk. Parameters influencing transmission of EBOV are, however, largely undefined in part due to the lack of an established animal model to study mechanisms of pathogen spread. Here, we investigated EBOV transmissibility in male and female ferrets. After intranasal challenge, an infected animal was placed in direct contact with a naive ferret and in contact with another naive ferret (separated from the infected animal by a metal mesh) that served as the indirect-contact animal. All challenged animals, male direct contacts, and one male indirect contact developed disease and died. The remaining animals were not viremic and remained asymptomatic but developed EBOV-glycoprotein IgM and/or IgG specific antibodies—indicative of virus transmission. EBOV transmission via indirect contact was frequently observed in this model but resulted in less-severe disease compared to direct contact. Interestingly, these observations are consistent with the detection of specific antibodies in humans living in areas of EBOV endemicity. IMPORTANCE Our knowledge regarding transmission of EBOV between individuals is vague and is mostly limited to spreading via direct contact with infectious bodily fluids. Studying transmission parameters such as dose and route of infection is nearly impossible in naturally acquired cases—hence the requirement for a laboratory animal model. Here, we show as a proof of concept that ferrets can be used to study EBOV transmission. We also show that transmission in the absence of direct contact is frequent, as all animals with indirect contact with the infected ferrets had detectable antibodies to the virus, and one succumbed to infection. Our report provides a new small-animal model for studying EBOV transmission that does not require adaptation of the virus, providing insight into virus transmission among humans during epidemics.Marc-Antoine de La VegaGeoff SouleKaylie N. TranKevin TierneyShihua HeGary WongXiangguo QiuGary P. KobingerAmerican Society for Microbiologyarticleanimal modelsEbola virusferretfilovirustransmissionMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSphere, Vol 3, Iss 5 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	animal models Ebola virus ferret filovirus transmission Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	animal models Ebola virus ferret filovirus transmission Microbiology QR1-502 Marc-Antoine de La Vega Geoff Soule Kaylie N. Tran Kevin Tierney Shihua He Gary Wong Xiangguo Qiu Gary P. Kobinger Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
description	ABSTRACT Ebola virus (EBOV) has been responsible for sporadic outbreaks in Central Africa since 1976 and has the potential of causing social disruption and public panic as illustrated by the 2013–2016 epidemic in West Africa. Transmission of EBOV has been described to occur via contact with infected bodily fluids, supported by data indicating that infectious EBOV could be cultured from blood, semen, saliva, urine, and breast milk. Parameters influencing transmission of EBOV are, however, largely undefined in part due to the lack of an established animal model to study mechanisms of pathogen spread. Here, we investigated EBOV transmissibility in male and female ferrets. After intranasal challenge, an infected animal was placed in direct contact with a naive ferret and in contact with another naive ferret (separated from the infected animal by a metal mesh) that served as the indirect-contact animal. All challenged animals, male direct contacts, and one male indirect contact developed disease and died. The remaining animals were not viremic and remained asymptomatic but developed EBOV-glycoprotein IgM and/or IgG specific antibodies—indicative of virus transmission. EBOV transmission via indirect contact was frequently observed in this model but resulted in less-severe disease compared to direct contact. Interestingly, these observations are consistent with the detection of specific antibodies in humans living in areas of EBOV endemicity. IMPORTANCE Our knowledge regarding transmission of EBOV between individuals is vague and is mostly limited to spreading via direct contact with infectious bodily fluids. Studying transmission parameters such as dose and route of infection is nearly impossible in naturally acquired cases—hence the requirement for a laboratory animal model. Here, we show as a proof of concept that ferrets can be used to study EBOV transmission. We also show that transmission in the absence of direct contact is frequent, as all animals with indirect contact with the infected ferrets had detectable antibodies to the virus, and one succumbed to infection. Our report provides a new small-animal model for studying EBOV transmission that does not require adaptation of the virus, providing insight into virus transmission among humans during epidemics.
format	article
author	Marc-Antoine de La Vega Geoff Soule Kaylie N. Tran Kevin Tierney Shihua He Gary Wong Xiangguo Qiu Gary P. Kobinger
author_facet	Marc-Antoine de La Vega Geoff Soule Kaylie N. Tran Kevin Tierney Shihua He Gary Wong Xiangguo Qiu Gary P. Kobinger
author_sort	Marc-Antoine de La Vega
title	Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
title_short	Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
title_full	Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
title_fullStr	Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
title_full_unstemmed	Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets
title_sort	modeling ebola virus transmission using ferrets
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/b53ec316cd5e409dab3dac5fb4173d6d
work_keys_str_mv	AT marcantoinedelavega modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT geoffsoule modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT kaylientran modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT kevintierney modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT shihuahe modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT garywong modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT xiangguoqiu modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets AT garypkobinger modelingebolavirustransmissionusingferrets
_version_	1718428027294056448

Modeling Ebola Virus Transmission Using Ferrets

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