10th International Aerosol Conference
September 2 - September 7, 2018
America's Center Convention Complex
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Abstract View


Disease Progression in African Green Monkeys Exposed to Small Particle Aerosolized Nipah Virus

MATTHEW LACKEMEYER, Lucy Cong, Michael Holbrook, Kyle Bohannon, Peter Jahrling, NIAID

     Abstract Number: 494
     Working Group: Infectious Bioaerosol

Abstract
Nipah virus (NIV) is a paramyxovirus that emerged in the late 1990s in Malaysia, with sporadic outbreaks extending into Bangladesh and India. Severe febrile response with respiratory and neurological disease is often associated with NIV infections in humans. Transmission can occur through direct contact, consumption of contaminated foods, and/or inhalational routes of exposure. Focusing on the inhalational route of exposure, most aerosolization studies involving infectious diseases utilize generated small particles (0.5-3.0 µm), which target the pulmonary region and deposit deep within the alveoli of the lower respiratory tract. Animal modeling involving nonhuman primates exposed to NIV is not well studied or characterized and no previous publications involving NIV involving aerosolization have been reported. Specifically, the NIV aerosol African green monkey animal model presented focuses on the disease progression and immune response generated from a small particle aerosol challenge to NIV. As expected, imaging analysis confirmed the deposited small particle aerosol was confined to the lower respiratory tract. Severe respiratory disease was observed with no overt neurological disease developing after exposure, which is not indicative of human disease. However, there was an increase in the cytokine response during the late stages of disease suggesting cell-mediated immunity. Further work is required to mitigate the severe respiratory distress caused from the aerosol exposure while extending the disease course and thus, increasing the potential for a neurological component often seen with the human disease condition. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of this disease progression, to observe any neurological distress that is associated with human NIV disease, and to evaluate the NIV nonhuman primate animal model for future development of medical countermeasures.