A research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has established a mouse model for testing of vaccines and therapeutics to battle Zika virus.

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The mouse model mimics aspects of the infection in humans, with high levels of the virus seen in the mouse brain and spinal cord, consistent with evidence showing that Zika causes neurological defects in human fetuses. Interestingly, the researchers detected the highest levels of the virus in the testes of male mice, a finding that supports clinical data indicating the virus can be sexually transmitted.

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The new model of Zika virus infection, along with another recently identified by scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch, are the first to be developed since 1976. The earlier models were not as clinically relevant because the infections were generated by injecting the virus directly into the brain. In the new models, infection occurs via the skin, much like the bite of the mosquito that spreads the virus.

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Source: Washington University School of Medicine/The Source

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Another article from a team at National Infection Service, Public Health England, UK report the demonstration that A129 mice are a susceptible mouse strain to ZIKV infection which we propose as a suitable and informative in vivo model for the testing of vaccines and therapeutics.