Evaluation of the Replication, Pathogenicity, and Immunogenicity of Avian Paramyxovirus (APMV) Serotypes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 in Rhesus Macaques

Khattar, Sunil K.; Nayak, Baibaswata; Kim, Shin-Hee; Xiao, Sa; Samal, Sweety; Paldurai, Anandan; Buchholz, Ursula J.; Collins, Peter L.; Samal, Siba K.

Adult rhesus macaques in groups of four were inoculated by the combined intranasal and intratracheal routes with 10 6 PFU per site of nine APMV strains representing six serotypes, namely serotypes 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 (Table 1 and Materials and Methods). Five strains were biologically derived wt viruses: APMV-2, -3, -4, -5, -7, and -9. Another virus was rAPMV-4, a recombinant derivative of wt APMV-4. The remaining three viruses, called rAPMV-2 (type 1 Africa), rAPMV-4/Fcs-BC, and rAPMV-7/Fcs-5B, were versions of wt rAPMV-2, -4, and -7, respectively, in which the naturally-occurring non-multi-basic F cleavage site was modified into a multi-basic site containing the optimal furin motif ( Table 1 ). The animals were observed daily from days 0-10 and on days 12, 21 and 28 for any clinical signs of illness or distress. None of the animals exhibited any clinical signs of infection such as weight loss, increased body temperature, fever, or signs of respiratory distress, and no deaths were recorded. Thus, none of these APMV strains and cleavage site mutants was overtly pathogenic in rhesus macaques.