Delineating the kinetics of spinal pathology in the EV-D68 infected ferret model

Project Summary/ Abstract Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a remerging virus that causes Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a polio like paralysis in children. There have been a number of outbreaks of EV-D68 infections worldwide since the outbreak of 2014 when a large number of cases were reported in the US. Since then, the prevalence of EV-D68 infections have significantly increased with an outbreak occurring in children as recently as 2022. Not much is known about the detailed mechanics of AFM in children. Neonatal and immunodeficient mouse models have yielded valuable insights though it is not clear how well these models recapitulate disease in children. We seek to develop an immunocompetent ferret model to address these questions. We hypothesize that infection with neurotropic isolates of EV-D68 will induce AFM like spinal pathology in ferrets. In aim 1, we will examine the course of spinal damage longitudinally, and in and in aim 2, we will delineate the role of glial cells residing in the spinal cord in driving spinal pathology after infection. Overall, these studies have the potential to provide novel insights into the spinal damage seen during AFM after EV-D68 infection.