The Makona Variant of Ebola Virus Is Highly Lethal to Immunocompromised Mice and Immunocompetent Ferrets

During 2013-2016, a novel isolate of Ebola virus (EBOV-Makona) caused an epidemic in West Africa. The virus was distinct from known EBOV strains (EBOV-Kikwit and EBOV-Mayinga), which were responsible for previous outbreaks in Central Africa. To investigate the pathogenicity of EBOV-Makona, we engine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2018-11, Vol.218 (suppl_5), p.S466-S470
Main Authors: Wong, Gary, Leung, Anders, He, Shihua, Cao, Wenguang, De La Vega, Marc-Antoine, Griffin, Bryan D, Soule, Geoff, Kobinger, Gary P, Kobasa, Darwyn, Qiu, Xiangguo
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Language:English
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Summary:During 2013-2016, a novel isolate of Ebola virus (EBOV-Makona) caused an epidemic in West Africa. The virus was distinct from known EBOV strains (EBOV-Kikwit and EBOV-Mayinga), which were responsible for previous outbreaks in Central Africa. To investigate the pathogenicity of EBOV-Makona, we engineered and rescued an early isolate (H.sapiens-wt/GIN/2014/Makona-Gueckedou-C07, called rgEBOV-C07) using an updated reverse-genetics system. rgEBOV-C07 was found to be highly pathogenic in both the knockout mouse and ferret models, with median lethal dose values of 0.078 and 0.015 plaque-forming units, respectively. Therefore, these animals are appropriate for screening potential countermeasures against EBOV-Makona without the need for species adaptation.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/jiy141