Rift Valley fever virus induces fetal demise in Sprague-Dawley rats through direct placental infection.

ABSTRACT: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) infections in pregnant livestock cause high rates of fetal demise; miscarriage in pregnant women has also been associated with RVFV infection. To address how RVFV infection during pregnancy causes detrimental effects on the fetus, we developed a pregnant rodent model of RVFV infection. We found that pregnant rats were more susceptible to RVFV-induced death than their nonpregnant counterparts and that RVFV infection resulted in intrauterine fetal death and severe congenital abnormalities, even in pups from infected asymptomatic pregnant rats. Virus distribution in infected dams was widespread, with a previously unrecognized preference for infection, replication, and tissue damage in the placenta. In human mid-gestation placental tissue, RVFV directly infected

SUBMITTER: McMillen CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6281433 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature