Zika Virus Infection in Syrian Golden Hamsters and Strain 13 Guinea Pigs

Abstract. To evaluate potential immunocompetent small animal models of Zika virus(ZIKV) infection, we inoculatedSyrian golden hamsters(subcutaneously or intraperitoneally) and strain 13 guinea pigs (intraperitoneally) with Senegalese ZIKV strain ArD41525 or Philippines ZIKV strain CPC-0740. We did not detect viremiain hamsters inoculatedsubcutaneously with either virus strain, although some hamstersdeveloped virus neutralizing antibodies. However, we detected statistically significant higher viremias(P = 0.0285) and a higher median neutralization titer (P = 0.0163) in hamsters inoculatedintraperitoneally with strain ArD41525 compared with strain CPC-0740. Furthermore, some hamsters inoculatedwith strain ArD41525 displayed mild signs of disease. By contrast, strain 13 guinea pigs inoculatedintraperitoneally with either strain did not have detectable viremiasand less than half developed virus neutralizing antibodies. Our results support the use of the Syrian golden hamsterintraperitoneal model to explore phenotypic variation between ZIKV strains.