Natural History of Chapare Virus Infection in Strain 13 Guinea Pigs

Chapare virus (CHAPV) is an emerging arenavirus first discovered in Bolivia. Clinical cases have a high case-fatality rate and a concerning capacity for person-to-person spread. Animal models of Chapare hemorrhagic fever are needed to study pathogenesis and development of medical counter measures. Here, we present a narrowly focused study describing lethal infection of strain 13 guinea pigs with CHAPV. Animals challenged with CHAPV had progressive weight loss, lymphocytopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hepatitis, vascular leakage, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage, resulting in uniform lethality between 7 and 16 days following challenge. This work lays the foundation for development of a small animal model of CHAPV infection.