Development and Characterization of a Guinea Pig-Adapted Sudan Virus

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Infectious Diseases
• Animal Models

Background:

• Sudan virus (SUDV) causes severe hemorrhagic fever with a high fatality rate in humans.
• The lack of a suitable small-animal model hinders the development of therapeutics and prophylactics against SUDV.
• Previous Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks have spurred countermeasure development, but SUDV lacks similar progress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a uniformly lethal small-animal model for Sudan virus (SUDV).
• To facilitate the screening of potential drugs and medical countermeasures against SUDV infections.
• To accelerate the preparedness for future SUDV disease outbreaks.

Main Methods:

• Repeatedly passaging SUDV in guinea pigs to create an adapted variant (SUDV-GA).
• Infecting guinea pigs with SUDV-GA to assess lethality and disease progression.
• Conducting virological, pathological, and biochemical analyses to characterize the infection.

Main Results:

• A guinea pig-adapted SUDV variant (SUDV-GA) was successfully generated.
• SUDV-GA proved uniformly lethal to guinea pigs with a low LD50.
• Infected animals exhibited high viremia, characteristic disease signs, and pathology similar to nonhuman primate models.

Conclusions:

• The developed guinea pig model (SUDV-GA) effectively mimics human and nonhuman primate SUDV infections.
• This model is crucial for accelerating the development of life-saving medical countermeasures against SUDV.
• The availability of this model enhances readiness for potential future SUDV outbreaks.