Infection of pregnant guinea pigs with attenuated Junin virus strains

The effect of the attenuated XJC13 and XJ0 strains of Junin virus (JV) was studied in guinea pigs infected before and during pregnancy. The 58% mortality rate in animals infected during gestation and the 16.7% mortality rate in chronically infected animals were attributed to a viral effect. An abortion rate of 33% occurred in animals infected before the 7th week of gestation. Regardless of the time of infection, JV was isolated from central nervous system tissue, placentas, and fetuses of animals killed just before parturition, even when circulating neutralizing antibodies were present. Results confirmed that transplacental infection is a regular event and showed that guinea pigs are more susceptible to attenuated JV strains during pregnancy, most probably due to immunosuppression, hormonal changes, or both.