Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040380. Epub 2012 Jul 6.
Schmallenberg virus (SBV), a novel orthobunyavirus, was discovered in Europe in late 2011. It causes mild and transient disease in adult ruminants, but fetal infection can lead to abortion or severe malformations. There is considerable demand for SBV research, but in vivo studies in large animals are complicated by their long gestation periods and the cost of high containment housing. The goal of this study was to investigate whether type I interferon receptor knock-out (IFNAR(-/-)) mice are a suitable small animal model for SBV. Twenty IFNAR(-/-) mice were inoculated with SBV, four were kept as controls. After inoculation, all were observed and weighed daily; two mice per day were sacrificed and blood, brain, lungs, liver, spleen, and intestine were harvested. All but one inoculated mouse lost weight, and two mice died spontaneously at the end of the first week, while another two had to be euthanized. Real-time RT-PCR detected large amounts of SBV RNA in all dead or sick mice; the controls were healthy and PCR-negative. IFNAR(-/-) mice are susceptible to SBV infection and can develop fatal disease, making them a handy and versatile tool for SBV vaccine research.
沙氏山病毒（SBV），一种新型的正呼肠孤病毒，于 2011 年末在欧洲被发现。它会使成年反刍动物感染轻微且短暂，但会使胎儿感染导致流产或严重畸形。对 SBV 的研究有相当大的需求，但在大型动物身上进行体内研究因它们的长妊娠期和高隔离住房的成本而变得复杂。本研究的目的是调查 I 型干扰素受体敲除（IFNAR（-/-））小鼠是否是 SBV 的合适小动物模型。20 只 IFNAR（-/-）小鼠接种了 SBV，4 只作为对照保留。接种后，每天观察并称重；每天牺牲两只小鼠，采集血液、大脑、肺、肝、脾和肠。除了一只接种的小鼠外，所有小鼠体重均减轻，两只小鼠在第一周结束时自发死亡，另外两只不得不安乐死。实时 RT-PCR 检测到所有患病或死亡小鼠中都有大量 SBV RNA；对照组健康且 PCR 检测为阴性。IFNAR（-/-）小鼠易感染 SBV 并可能导致致命疾病，使它们成为研究 SBV 疫苗的便捷且通用的工具。
