Hamsters as a novel animal model for influenza virus transmission via airborne

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670216
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Virology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NODA Takeshi 東京大学, 医科学研究所, 准教授 (00422410)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: インフルエンザウイルス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Influenza A and B viruses cause contagious respiratory diseases. One of the most important features of influenza viruses is efficient transmission via airborne droplet among individuals. Until now, there is no animal model, which supports efficient virus transmission via airborne droplet. Here we employed Syrian hamster as a novel animal model. We found that some influenza A and B strains were transmittable among individuals probably via airborne, but the others were not. A(H1N1)2009 virus efficiently transmitted among individuals, suggesting that there are not-yet identified genetic factors, which are responsible for airborne transmission among hamsters.

Free Research Field

ウイルス学