Respiratory Tract Explant Infection Dynamics of Influenza A Virus in California Sea Lions, Northern Elephant Seals, and Rhesus Macaques

Abstract

Although influenza A virus can infect marine mammals, a dearth of marine mammal cell lines and ethical and logistical challenges prohibiting experimental infections of living marine mammals mean that little is known about IAV infection kinetics in these species. We circumvented these limitations by adapting a respiratory tract explant model first to establish the approach with rhesus macaques and then for use with explants from wild marine mammals euthanized for nonrespiratory medical conditions.