AsianScientist (Jun. 30, 2016) – To many in Asia, the specter of the Zika epidemic is one that looms ominously from the Americas. It would then surprise many to know that the wake of the Zika virus can be traced across the Pacific, and right back to Asia.
Of the two major lineages of the virus, African and Asian, it is the Asian strain that has been linked to estimates of a thousand cases of microcephaly and fetal abnormalities in Brazil. While only a handful of Zika cases have been reported in Asia so far, many regions in Asia have been found to be at an exceptionally high risk of a future Zika outbreak. To date, however, the Zika virus’s underlying mechanisms remain largely elusive.
A major problem so far has been the lack of an ideal animal model to study the virus. Mice have traditionally been reliable lab candidates, but they do not mimic several key features of infection and fetal development in humans, thus limiting its use as animal models for understanding the Zika virus.
It was this problem that motivated Professor David O’Connor and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to develop a primate model of the Zika virus. Rhesus monkeys were chosen for their close genetic similarity to humans.
O’Connor and his colleagues inoculated eight rhesus monkeys, including two pregnant animals, with an Asian-lineage Zika virus closely related to the strains currently present in South America. By detecting the presence of the virus in the plasma, saliva, urine and cerebrospinal fluid of the macaques, the team confirmed that all eight macaques were successfully infected.
Subsequently, when the macaques were challenged with the Zika virus for the second time, it was found that all eight macaques had also developed an immune response to the virus.
“Future studies with macaque monkeys will be really important to [help researchers] understand when and why the Zika virus causes fetal abnormalities. Macaques also provide a very relevant preclinical model for evaluating potential vaccines and therapies, especially those that are intended for use during pregnancy,” O’Connor told Asian Scientist Magazine.
Their findings are published in Nature Communications.
The article can be found at: O’Connor et al. (2016) A Rhesus Macaque Model of Asian-lineage Zika Virus Infection.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Marieke IJsendoorn-Kuijpers/Flickr/CC.
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