title: A Syrian golden hamster model recapitulating ebola hemorrhagic fever.
abstract: Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a severe viral infection for which no effective treatment or vaccine is currently available. While the nonhuman primate (NHP) model is used for final evaluation of experimental vaccines and therapeutic efficacy, rodent models have been widely used in ebolavirus research because of their convenience. However, the validity of rodent models has been questioned given their low predictive value for efficacy testing of vaccines and therapeutics, a result of the inconsistent manifestation of coagulopathy seen in EHF. Here, we describe a lethal Syrian hamster model of EHF using mouse-adapted Ebola virus. Infected hamsters displayed most clinical hallmarks of EHF, including severe coagulopathy and uncontrolled host immune responses. Thus, the hamster seems to be superior to the existing rodent models, offering a better tool for understanding the critical processes in pathogenesis and providing a new model for evaluating prophylactic and postexposure interventions prior to testing in NHPs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NID), Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), Hamilton, Montana 59840, USA. ebiharah@niaid.nih.gov
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ebihara
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zivcec
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Darryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Falzarano
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: LaCasse
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosenke
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawaoka
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feldmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006224:Cricetinae; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004211:Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D014709:Vero Cells