A nairovirus isolated from African bats causes hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and severe hepatic disease in mice
Research Press Release | December 10, 2014
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Leopards Hill cave in Zambia where we collected the bat samples -
Phylogenetic analysis of Leopards Hill virus and other viruses in the family bunyaviridae -
Leopards Hill virus 11SB23 strain injection to mice resulted in (A) liver and kidney dysfunction, (B) leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia
| Press Release | ||
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| Key Points | ・We discovered and isolated a novel nairovirus, Leopards Hill virus, in wild bats captured in Zambia.
・We constructed a mouse model infected with the nairovirus, which is associated with hemorrhagic fever-like symptoms. ・The established animal model with the Leopards Hill virus is expected to develop treatment and prophylaxis of nairovirus hemorrhagic disease. |
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| Overview | Bats can carry important zoonotic pathogens. Here we use a combination of next-generation sequencing and classical virus isolation methods to identify novel nairoviruses from bats captured from a cave in Zambia. The virus are hereafter designated as “Leopards Hill virus (LPHV).” When intraperitoneally injected into mice, a low-pathogenic LPHV 11SB17 strain causes only slight body weight loss, whereas a high-pathogenic LPHV 11SB23 strain produces acute and lethal disease closely resembling that observed with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus in humans. We believe that our LPHV mouse model will be useful for research on the pathogenesis of nairoviral hemorrhagic disease. | |
| Inquiries |
Akihiro Ishii, Assistant Professor, Hokudai Center for Zoonosis Control in Zambia, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University TEL: +81-11-706-9517 FAX: +81-11-706-7370 E-mail: ishiia@czc.hokudai.ac.jp |
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Japanese Link |
ナイロウイルス出血熱感染マウスモデルの開発にはじめて成功 | |
| Publications |
(Nature Communications, 2014.12.2) |
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