Experimental Zika Virus Inoculation in a New World Monkey Model Reproduces Key Features of the Human Infection.

ABSTRACT: A monkey model of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is urgently needed to better understand transmission and pathogenesis, given its proven association with fetal brain defects in pregnant women and acute neurological illness. Here we experimentally infected 4 male marmosets with ZIKV (prototype 1947 African strain) and monitored them clinically with sampling of various body fluids and tissues for nearly 3 months. We show that the course of acute infection with ZIKV in these New World monkeys resembles the human illness in many respects, including (1) lack of apparent clinical symptoms in most cases, (2) persistence of the virus in body fluids such as semen and saliva for longer periods of time than in serum, and (3) generation of neutralizing antibodies as well as an antiviral immunological hos

SUBMITTER: Chiu CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5719425 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature