Taï Forest Virus Does Not Cause Lethal Disease in Ferrets

Abstract

Filoviruses are zoonotic, negative-sense RNA viruses, most of which are capable of causing severe disease in humans and nonhuman primates, often with high case fatality rates. Among these viruses, those belonging to the Ebolavirus genus—particularly Ebola virus, Sudan virus, and Bundibugyo virus—represent some of the most pathogenic to humans. Taï Forest virus (TAFV) is thought to be among the least pathogenic ebolaviruses; however, only a single non-fatal case has been documented in humans, in 1994. With the recent success of the ferret as a lethal model for a number of ebolaviruses, we set out to evaluate its suitability as a model for TAFV. Our results demonstrate that, unlike other ebolaviruses, TAFV infection in ferrets does not result in lethal disease. None of the intramuscularly inoculated animals demonstrated any overt signs of disease, whereas the intranasally inoculated animals exhibited mild to moderate weight loss during the early stage of infection but recovered quickly. Low levels of viral RNA were detected in the blood and tissues of several animals, particularly the intranasally inoculated animals, and all animals mounted a humoral immune response, with high titers of GP-specific IgG detectable as early as 14 days post-infection. These data provide additional insight into the pathogenesis of TAFV.