Beer, Martin

Herden, Christiane

Hoffmann, Donata

Nobach, Daniel

Schlottau, Kore*

English

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Session 3: New and Re-Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 40    Development and characterization of small animal models for variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1)  Kore Schlottau1, Daniel Nobach2, Christiane Herden2,3, Martin Beer1 and Donata Hoffmann1 1Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany 2Justus-Liebig-Universität, Institut für Veterinär-Pathologie, Gießen, Germany 3Center of Mind, Brain and Behavior, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Gießen, Germany Keywords: animal model, bornavirus, rodents, encephalitis Until the variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1) was discovered in 2015, it was assumed that no member of the family Bornaviridae could infect humans. VSBV-1 was detected in four squirrel breeders and one animal caretaker, of whom four died due to a severe encephalitis. The aim of this study was to test the susceptibility of different rodent models for VSBV-1 and to characterize the course of disease. VSBV-1 infection studies were done with rats, bank voles and mice. Neonatal and adult animals were infected with a VSBV-1 cell culture isolate by different infection routes (intracerebral, intranasal or subcutaneous) and monitored for signs of disease and virus shedding. After three or five months, animals were dissected and tissue material tested by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. None of the animals showed any clinical disease and no virus shedding was observed. Despite that, some intracerebrally infected rats and bank voles were susceptible to infection as shown by high viral loads in their brains. Gross pathology showed no changes whereas histology revealed a non purulent encephalomyelitis with perivascular infiltrates in some of the neonatally infected rats.  So far, none of the tested rodents fulfilled all criteria to serve as an infection model for VSBV-1 reflecting either the reservoir host assumed to be squirrels or a dead-end host represented by humans. Further research will focus on the development of suitable animal models for future countermeasure progress.   

Development and characterization of small animal models for variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1)

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Development and characterization of small animal models for variegated squirrel bornavirus 1 (VSBV-1)

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