A Small-Particle Aerosol Model of Ebolavirus Zaire Infection in Ferrets.

The Ebola virus (EBOV) causes severe disease in humans, and animal models are needed to evaluate the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics. While non-human primate (NHP) and rodent EBOV infection models have been well characterized, there is a growing need for an intermediate model. Here, we provide the first report of a small-particle aerosol (AE) EBOV ferret model and disease progression compared with the intramuscular (IM) EBOV ferret model.

Comparison of protection against mpox following mRNA or modified vaccinia Ankara vaccination in nonhuman primates.

In 2022, mpox virus (MPXV) spread worldwide, causing 99,581 mpox cases in 121 countries. Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine use reduced disease in at-risk populations but failed to deliver complete protection. Lag in manufacturing and distribution of MVA resulted in additional MPXV spread, with 12,000 reported cases in 2023 and an additional outbreak in Central Africa of clade I virus.

Smallpox lesion characterization in placebo-treated and tecovirimat-treated macaques using traditional and novel methods.

Smallpox was the most rampant infectious disease killer of the 20th century, yet much remains unknown about the pathogenesis of the variola virus. Using archived tissue from a study conducted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention we characterized pathology in 18 cynomolgus macaques intravenously infected with the Harper strain of variola virus. Six macaques were placebo-treated controls, six were tecovirimat-treated beginning at 2 days post-infection, and six were tecovirimat-treated beginning at 4 days post-infection.

Effect of Monkeypox Virus Preparation on the Lethality of the Intravenous Cynomolgus Macaque Model.

For over two decades, researchers have sought to improve smallpox vaccines and also develop therapies to ensure protection against smallpox or smallpox-like disease. The 2022 human monkeypox pandemic is a reminder that these efforts should persist. Advancing such therapies have involved animal models primarily using surrogate viruses such as monkeypox virus.

A SARS-CoV-2 Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle Vaccine Is Protective and Promotes a Strong Immunological Response in the Cynomolgus Macaque Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Model.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a staggering impact on social, economic, and public health systems worldwide. Vaccine development and mobilization against SARS-CoV-2 (the etiologic agent of COVID-19) has been rapid. However, novel strategies are still necessary to slow the pandemic, and this includes new approaches to vaccine development and/or delivery that will improve vaccination compliance and demonstrate efficacy against emerging variants.

Development of a coronavirus disease 2019 nonhuman primate model using airborne exposure.

Airborne transmission is predicted to be a prevalent route of human exposure with SARS-CoV-2. Aside from African green monkeys, nonhuman primate models that replicate airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have not been investigated. A comparative evaluation of COVID-19 in African green monkeys, rhesus macaques, and cynomolgus macaques following airborne exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was performed to determine critical disease parameters associated with disease progression, and establish correlations between primate and human COVID-19.

Characterization of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Rhesus Monkeys for Development of EVD Therapeutics.

Recent Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have highlighted the urgent need for approval of medical countermeasures for treatment and prevention of EBOV disease (EVD). Until recently, when successes were achieved in characterizing the efficacy of multiple experimental EVD therapeutics in humans, the only feasible way to obtain data regarding potential clinical benefits of candidate therapeutics was by conducting well-controlled animal studies. Nonclinical studies are likely to continue to be important tools for screening and development of new candidates with improved pharmacological properties.

Filovirus infection of STAT-1 knockout mice.

We evaluated the susceptibility to Ebola and Marburg virus infection of mice that cannot respond to interferon (IFN)-α/β and IFN-γ because of deletion of the STAT-1 gene. A mouse-adapted Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) caused rapidly lethal disease; wild-type ZEBOV and Sudan Ebolavirus and 4 different Marburg virus strains produced severe, but more slowly progressive illness; and Reston Ebolavirus caused mild disease that was late in onset. The virulence of each agent was mirrored by the pace and severity of pathologic changes in the liver and lymphoid tissues.

Progression of pathogenic events in cynomolgus macaques infected with variola virus.

Smallpox, caused by variola virus (VARV), is a devastating human disease that affected millions worldwide until the virus was eradicated in the 1970 s. Subsequent cessation of vaccination has resulted in an immunologically naive human population that would be at risk should VARV be used as an agent of bioterrorism. The development of antivirals and improved vaccines to counter this threat would be facilitated by the development of animal models using authentic VARV.

Effect of teriparatide [rhPTH(1,34)] and calcitonin on intertransverse process fusion in a rabbit model.

Study Design: Randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled animal study.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of teriparatide and calcitonin after an intertransverse process spinal fusion in a rabbit model.

Summary Of Background Data: It is widely recognized that some osteoporosis medications, including bisphosphonates, can interfere with bone healing.

Severe encephalitis in cynomolgus macaques exposed to aerosolized Eastern equine encephalitis virus.

Cynomolgus macaques exposed to an aerosol containing a virulent strain of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus developed neurological signs indicating encephalitis that corresponded with the onset of fever and an elevated heart rate. Viremia was either transient or undetectable even in animals that succumbed to the illness. The onset of illness was dose dependent, but once a febrile response was observed, macaques were moribund within 36 h.

Impact of phlebotomine sand flies on U.S. Military operations at Tallil Air Base, Iraq: 1. background, military situation, and development of a "Leishmaniasis Control Program".

One of the most significant modern day efforts to prevent and control an arthropod-borne disease during a military deployment occurred when a team of U.S. military entomologists led efforts to characterize, prevent, and control leishmaniasis at Tallil Air Base (TAB), Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

3-deazaneplanocin A induces massively increased interferon-alpha production in Ebola virus-infected mice.

3-deazaneplanocin A, an analog of adenosine, is a potent inhibitor of Ebola virus replication. A single dose early in infection prevents illness and death in Ebola virus-infected mice. The ability of this and similar compounds to block both RNA and DNA viruses has been attributed to the inhibition of a cellular enzyme, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (SAH), indirectly resulting in reduced methylation of the 5' cap of viral messenger RNA.