EXPERIMENTAL INFECTION OF THE MARMOSET WITH LASSA VIRUS

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Lassa (LAS) virus, an Old World Arenavirus and the etiological agent of Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), causes up to 300,000 annual infections in West Africa. Approximately 30% of infections result in disease varying from mild influenza-like illness to lethal LHF causing several thousand deaths per year. The large disease burden, severe complications, lethality and the possibility that LAS virus can be used as a biological warfare agent make a strong case for effective vaccine development. Rhesus macaques have traditionally been chosen as models to study viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) viruses, unfortunately, the amount of BSL-4 space required to house these animals is limited. With the increase in funding for biodefense products against VHF viruses, the demand for BSL-4 space to perform these studies will increase. The current study investigates the small-bodied marmoset as an alternative model for LHF. Under maximum containment, marmosets will be experimentally infected with Lassa Josiah. During the course of infection blood will be collected for CBC analysis, viral load determination and proteomic profiling. At project end tissues will be collected for histological examination.