Experimental Zika Virus Infection of Neotropical Primates

Abstract

The establishment of a sylvatic reservoir of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas is dependent on the susceptibility of primates of sufficient population density, the duration and magnitude of viremia, and their exposure to the human mosquito-borne transmission cycle. To assess the susceptibility of squirrel ( sp.) and owl monkeys ( sp.) to infection, we inoculated four animals of each species with ZIKV from the current epidemic. Viremia in the absence of detectible disease was observed in both species and seroconversion occurred by day 28. ZIKV was detected in the spleen of three owl monkeys: one at 7 days postinoculation (dpi) and two at 14 dpi. This study confirms the susceptibility to ZIKV infection of two Neotropical primate species that live in close proximity to humans in South America, suggesting that they could support a widespread sylvatic ZIKV cycle there. Collectively, establishment of a ZIKV sylvatic transmission cycle in South America would imperil eradication efforts and could provide a mechanism for continued exposure of humans to ZIKV infection and disease.

Vector-borne transmission and evolution of Zika virus

“…and owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) 57 (Supplementary Table 3). Viremia was observed in both species in the absence of detectible disease, and seroconversion occurred by day 28.…”

Meeting report: 32nd International Conference on Antiviral Research

“…Availability of competent mosquitoes for RVFV in the United States is well documented but evidence of vectorial capacity is lacking. He also referred to recent experimental infection and modeling studies (Althouse et al, 2016;Vanchiere et al, 2018) that support concerns that a Zika virus (ZIKV) sylvatic cycle can be established in areas where susceptible NHP hosts are present. ZIKV spillbacks into enzootic cycles would make elimination near to impossible.…”

Animal Models of Zika Virus Sexual Transmission

“…Non-human primates inoculated subcutaneously developed neutralizing antibodies against ZIKV and only one animal presented a slight elevation in temperature [39,40]. Several decades after this initial study, several other model species were used as animal models for ZIKV, but efforts were mostly focused on mice [41][42][43] and non-human primates (NHPs) [44][45][46][47], with most studies being conducted after the outbreak in the Americas in 2015-2016.…”

“…NHP models are also frequently used to study ZIKV since their biology more closely relates to a human than does mouse biology. Several non-human primates were shown to be susceptible to ZIKV and used to study pathogenesis and infection of the reproductive tract, including cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis), rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) and olive baboon (Papio anubis), as well as neotropical non-human primates of the Callithrix, Saimiri and Aotus genera [46,84]. These species presented viremia and variable degrees of clinical signs following ZIKV infection.…”