Exploring Routes of Infection of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Using Experimentally Infected Animals

Jeffrey M. Marano Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

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Angela M. Bosco-Lauth Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

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Reports from endemic regions in Asia indicate that severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), a canonically tick-borne virus, can be directly transmitted from infected humans and animals to naïve hosts. To understand this process, using a feline infection model, we observed that both intramuscular inoculation and oral inoculation resulted in adult cats developing viremia, with cats inoculated intramuscularly shedding virus orally. We also observed a potential organ tropism associated with the route of inoculation. Using an immunodeficient murine model, we further demonstrated that noncanonical routes of inoculation can result in lethal infections. However, we could not replicate the organ tropism seen in cats, possibly because of the immunodeficient nature of the mice. Like cats, mice shed SFSTV orally. These results indicate that SFTSV can exist in a vector-free cycle, highlighting a need for increased surveillance and precautions when handling potentially infected animals.

Author Notes

Financial support: This work was supported in part by the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Grant no. 5R21AI146500-02).

Current contact information: Jeffrey M. Marano and Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, E-mails: jmarano@colostate.edu and angela.bosco-lauth@colostate.edu.

Address correspondence to Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 3107 W Rampart Road, Fort Collins, CO 80521. E-mail: angela.bosco-lauth@colostate.edu
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