A Novel Non-human Primate Model of Mayaro Virus Infection
16 July 2024
As part of BIOQUAL’s Animal Model Development Initiative, BIOQUAL researchers in collaboration with scientists at Virgina Tech have established the cynomolgus macaque as one of the first non-human primate models of Mayaro virus infection.
Mayaro virus, like its close cousins Chikungunya virus and Zika virus, is becoming increasingly concerning as a pathogen of epidemic potential. As climate change and global commerce push the mosquito species that can carry this virus into new parts of the globe, the need for well-characterized preclinical animal models of Mayaro disease becomes more pressing.
In this model, cynomolgus macaques infected with Mayaro virus exhibit infection kinetics that closely resemble those observed in clinical cases, and present with significant leukopenia that coincides with peak viral titers in the blood. Infected macaques produce neutralizing antibodies against MAYV, and organ pathologies and active viral replication are detectable over one month post-infection. A comparison of three virus strains showed that each known Mayaro virus genotype produces distinct inflammatory cytokine responses, which should be considered in future research aimed at the prevention and treatment of the often-debilitating arthralgia and myalgia associated with Mayaro virus infection in humans. Discover more about Mayaro virus pathogenesis in the cynomolgus macaque in the latest issue of the Journal of General Virology.
The paper 'Comparative pathogenesis of three Mayaro virus genotypes in the cynomolgus macaque ' by Melissa M. Hamilton, Emily M. Webb, Max C. Peterson, Grishma Patel, Maciel Porto, Tatyana Orekov, Jesse H. Erasmus, Brad Finneyfrock, Anthony Cook, Albert J. Auguste and Swagata Kar in Journal of General Virology under the folllowing:
URL: https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.002001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.002001
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