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Little is known about the replication of Karshi virus, a member of the mammalian tick-borne flavivirus group, in its rodent hosts. Therefore, we developed a quantitative real-time RT-PCR assay and measured the amount of viral RNA in selected tissues of infected Swiss Webster mice. Two-day-old mice were highly susceptible, with 100% fatality 9 to 12 days after infection, whereas infection in 9-day-old mice was less virulent, with death occurring only rarely. In nearly all cases, mice inoculated when 2 days old contained similar numbers of viral genome equivalents from blood and liver samples from any given mouse, with titers declining after day 7. In contrast, the amount of viral RNA in the brain began to rise rapidly 4 days after exposure, peaked at about 6 days after virus exposure (titer of > 1013 genome equivalents/g), and remained at that level until euthanasia or death. Viral profiles were similar in needle-inoculated or tick-exposed mice.
Received May 24, 2007. Accepted for publication October 21, 2007.
Acknowledgments: We thank the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for providing a colony of O. tartakovskyi. We also thank M. O’Guinn, D. Dohm, and K. Kenyon for critically reading the manuscript. Research was conducted in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and other federal statutes and regulations relating to animals and experiments involving animals and adheres to principles stated in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, National Research Council, 1996. The facility where this research was conducted is fully accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International.
Financial support: This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Student Research Participation Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and USAMRMC and was performed while C.N. Mores held a National Research Council Research Associateship Award at USAM-RIID. This research was funded in part by the Biological Weapons Proliferation Prevention Program, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Ft. Belvoir, VA.
Disclaimer: The views of the authors do not purport to reflect the positions of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
* Address correspondence to Michael J. Turell, Virology Division, USAMRIID, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011. E-mail: Michael.turell{at}amedd.army.mil
Authors’ addresses: Michael J. Turell, Virology Division, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011, Tel: (301) 619-4921, Fax: (301) 619-2290. Chris A. Whitehouse, Ashley Butler, Carson Baldwin, and Hannah Hottel, Diagnostic Systems Division, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011, Tel: Chris Whitehouse (301) 619-2098, Ashley Butler (301) 619-0815, Carson Baldwin (301) 619-0813, and Hannah Hottel (301) 619-0813, Fax: (301) 619-2290. Christopher N. Mores, University of Florida, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, 200 9th Street SE, Vero Beach, FL 32962, Tel: (772) 778-7200.
Reprint requests: Michael J. Turell, Virology Division, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1425 Porter Street, Fort Detrick, MD 21702-5011, Tel: (301) 619-4921, Fax: (301) 619-2290. E-mail: Michael.turell{at}amedd.army.mil.
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