Vertebrate Host Susceptibility to Heartland Virus

Abstract

Virus-infected Ag129 mice could be a useful model for identifying tick infection or virus transmission.

Heartland virus infection in hamsters deficient in type I interferon signaling: Protracted disease course ameliorated by favipiravir

“…AG129 mice, which are devoid of IFN-α/β and γ receptors, were the only animals found to be highly susceptible to disease by the same strain (MO-4) of the virus used in our studies, with 80% lethality observed at a challenge dose of 10 PFU (Bosco-Lauth et al, 2016). Hematologic analysis was not performed in the AG129 mouse model and histopathologic lesions were limited to increased numbers of mononuclear cells in the spleen.…”

“…Wild-type golden Syrian hamsters are refractory to disease and develop no detectable viremia following HRTV challenge (Bosco-Lauth et al, 2016). To investigate whether STAT2 deficiency would render hamsters susceptible to HRTV, STAT2 KO hamsters (n=4/group) were inoculated with serial dilutions of virus (50,000, 5,000, 500 or 50 CCID 50 ) or sham-infected and observed for signs of illness.…”

“…Consistent with these findings, we recently demonstrated that hamsters with an inactivating deletion in STAT2 are highly susceptible to SFTSV challenge (Gowen et al, 2016). Moreover, AG129 mice lacking functional IFN-α/β and γ receptors were recently found to be highly susceptible to HRTV infection (Bosco-Lauth et al, 2016). Herein we describe studies investigating the pathogenesis and natural history of HRTV infection in STAT2 knockout (KO) hamsters and the use of favipiravir, a broad-spectrum antiviral currently being clinically evaluated in Japan as a treatment for SFTS, as a potential therapeutic option for HRTV disease (Furuta et al, 2013; UMIN, 2016).…”

Experimental Infection of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginanus) with Heartland Virus

“…1,3,9 Experimental HRTV infections have been attempted in raccoons, goats, chickens, rabbits, hamsters, C57BL/6 mice, and Ag129 mice. 10 None of these species developed detectable viremia or pathologic changes with the exception of Ag129 mice, which are interferon α/β/γ receptor deficient. 10 Several factors suggest WTD could be a host for HRTV, including the detection of seropositive WTD, 8 the likelihood of A. americanum to feed on deer, 11 and the high density and widespread geographic range of WTD populations.…”

An overview of tick-borne viral pathogens in the light of current literature

“…HRTV Bunyaviridae ailesinin beş cinsinden biri olup, dünyanın hemen her yerinde görülen Flebovirüs cinsine ait bir patojendir. İlk olarak 2009 yılında, Missouri'de (ABD) lökopeni ve trombositopenisi olan iki çiftçiden izole edilmiştir (7) . Daha sonra Amblyomma americanum türü sert kenelerin bu virüsü taşıdığı gösterilmiştir (8) .…”