The Inability of Marburg Virus to Cause Disease in Ferrets Is Not Solely Linked to the Virus Glycoprotein

Abstract

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes lethal disease in ferrets, whereas Marburg virus (MARV) does not. To investigate this difference, we first evaluated viral entry by infecting ferret spleen cells with vesicular stomatitis viruses pseudotyped with either MARV or EBOV glycoprotein (GP). Both viruses were capable of infecting ferret spleen cells, suggesting that lack of disease is not due to a block in MARV entry. Next, we evaluated replication kinetics of authentic MARV and EBOV in ferret cell lines and demonstrated that, unlike EBOV, MARV was only capable of low levels of replication. Finally, we inoculated ferrets with a recombinant EBOV expressing MARV GP in place of EBOV GP. Infection resulted in uniformly lethal disease within 7-9 days postinfection, while MARV-inoculated animals survived until study endpoint. Together these data suggest that the inability of MARV to cause disease in ferrets is not entirely linked to GP.

Keywords: Ebola virus; Marburg virus; animal model; ferret; glycoprotein.