Figure 7

Natural history of disease in hamster PICV infection model. The schematic shown is a summary of the present data integrated with previously published findings [12]. Two days after challenge, the presence of PICV in the liver, kidney, spleen, and lung is evident. On day 3, the type I IFN response is measurable and fluctuates slightly over the duration of the acute infection. On days 4 and 5, a significant drop in serum albumin and the first signs of systemic PICV burden, respectively, are observed. By day 6, infectious PICV can be detected in the brain, ALT and AST enzyme levels rise, and WBC and proinflammatory mediators dramatically increase. Day 7 marks the onset of vascular leak, peak viral titer, ALT, and AST concentrations, and initial signs of weight loss. Eight days after challenge, significant vascular leakage is present in multiple tissues, with some animals beginning to succumb and showing clear signs of illness. The majority of the hamsters will succumb by day 9 of infection.