Animal Model of Sensorineural Hearing Loss Associated with Lassa Virus Infection.

Unlabelled: Approximately one-third of Lassa virus (LASV)-infected patients develop sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in the late stages of acute disease or in early convalescence. With 500,000 annual cases of Lassa fever (LF), LASV is a major cause of hearing loss in regions of West Africa where LF is endemic. To date, no animal models exist that depict the human pathology of LF with associated hearing loss.

Mice lacking functional STAT1 are highly susceptible to lethal infection with Lassa virus.

Lassa fever (LF) is a potentially lethal human disease that is caused by the arenavirus Lassa virus (LASV). Annually, around 300,000 infections with up to 10,000 deaths occur in regions of Lassa fever endemicity in West Africa. Here we demonstrate that mice lacking a functional STAT1 pathway are highly susceptible to infection with LASV and develop lethal disease with pathology similar to that reported in humans.