Oropharyngeal mucosal transmission of Zika virus in rhesus macaques

Christina M. Newman, Dawn M. Dudley, Matthew T. Aliota, Andrea M. Weiler, Gabrielle L. Barry, Mariel S. Mohns, Meghan E. Breitbach, Laurel M. Stewart, Connor R. Buechler, Michael E. Graham, Jennifer Post, Nancy Schultz-Darken, Eric Peterson, Wendy Newton, Emma L. Mohr, Saverio Capuano, David H. O’Connor and Thomas C. Friedrich ()
Additional contact information
Christina M. Newman: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Dawn M. Dudley: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Matthew T. Aliota: University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine
Andrea M. Weiler: University of Wisconsin
Gabrielle L. Barry: University of Wisconsin
Mariel S. Mohns: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Meghan E. Breitbach: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Laurel M. Stewart: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Connor R. Buechler: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Michael E. Graham: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Jennifer Post: University of Wisconsin
Nancy Schultz-Darken: University of Wisconsin
Eric Peterson: University of Wisconsin
Wendy Newton: University of Wisconsin
Emma L. Mohr: University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Clinical Science Center
Saverio Capuano: University of Wisconsin
David H. O’Connor: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Thomas C. Friedrich: University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Zika virus is present in urine, saliva, tears, and breast milk, but the transmission risk associated with these body fluids is currently unknown. Here we evaluate the risk of Zika virus transmission through mucosal contact in rhesus macaques. Application of high-dose Zika virus directly to the tonsils of three rhesus macaques results in detectable plasma viremia in all animals by 2 days post-exposure; virus replication kinetics are similar to those observed in animals infected subcutaneously. Three additional macaques inoculated subcutaneously with Zika virus served as saliva donors to assess the transmission risk from contact with oral secretions from an infected individual. Seven naive animals repeatedly exposed to donor saliva via the conjunctivae, tonsils, or nostrils did not become infected. Our results suggest that there is a risk of Zika virus transmission via the mucosal route, but that the risk posed by oral secretions from individuals with a typical course of Zika virus infection is low.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00246-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00246-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00246-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().