Abstract
A proposed new small-animal (rodent) model for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of severe orthopoxvirus infections is described. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) were infected intraperitoneally and intranasally with monkeypox virus (MPXV). A fulminant illness developed in all animals, and they died 6-9 days after infection. Virus was cultured from the blood and oropharynx several days before death; at necropsy, all of the organs tested contained relatively high titers of MPXV. The major pathologic findings were in the liver, which showed centrilobular necrosis, steatosis, and basophilic inclusion bodies in hepatocytes. Splenic necrosis was also observed, as well as interstitial inflammation in the lungs. The pathologic features of MPXV in ground squirrels are similar to that described with MPXV in macaques and severe variola (smallpox) virus infection in humans.
Highlights
Until last year, human monkeypox was confined to forested areas of central and West Africa, where sporadic epizootics have occurred (1)
Virus The strain of monkeypox virus (MPXV) used was designated MPX 2003 and was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. This virus was originally isolated from a skin lesion from a human monkeypox patient during the 2003 U.S outbreak (3)
Results of our study indicate that the thirteen-lined ground squirrel is highly susceptible to MPXV
Summary
Human monkeypox was confined to forested areas of central and West Africa, where sporadic epizootics have occurred (1). In 2003 monkeypox appeared in the United States, and 32 human cases were confirmed during an outbreak that occurred in pet owners in the Midwest (2,3). Imported African rodents were implicated as the probable source of the outbreak, the virus infected other wild animal pets (i.e., prairie dogs) that had contact with them (4). On the basis of these reports and earlier studies in Africa (5–7) that suggest that squirrels and certain other wild rodents might be reservoirs of monkeypox virus (MPXV), we tested the susceptibility of several North American wild rodent species to MPXV infection. We report the results of our studies with the common thirteen-lined ground squirrel, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus
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