Speaker
Description
A hitherto unknown viral pathogen was isolated in 2014 from a patient in eastern Kansas who died with high viremia shortly after disease symptoms developed (Kosoy et al., 2015). Additional cases with mild but also fatal outcomes have since occurred in the US. The novel virus, designated Bourbon virus (BRBV), is an influenza-like virus belonging to the genus of tick-borne Thogotoviruses in the Orthomyxoviridae. Recent tick surveillance studies of the CDC confirmed the prevalence of BRBV in the affected US regions. Here, we analyzed the pathology of Bourbon virus infection in mice and found an unexpected high sensitivity of the virus to the host interferon (IFN) system. Infected standard laboratory mice did not show disease symptoms or viral replication. However, in mice carrying defects in the type I and type II IFN system the virus grew to high titers and caused severe pathology. In cell culture experiments, Bourbon virus was blocked by antiviral agents like ribavirin and T705-favipiravir. Our data show that type I and II IFNs play a critical synergistic role in inhibiting BRBV suggesting that fatal outcomes in humans may be caused by defects in the patients’ innate immune defence. Furthermore, our findings indicate that patients would benefit from an already approved antiviral treatment.
| Choose primary session | Evolution and Emerging viruses |
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| Choose secondary Session | Innate Immunity |
