Oropouche virus causes severe congenital disease in embryonic mice

Oropouche virus causes severe congenital disease in embryonic mice | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Oropouche virus causes severe congenital disease in embryonic mice Maïlis Darmuzey, Robert Verdijk, Martin Ferrié, Niels Cremers, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7981874/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The recent outbreak of Oropouche virus (OROV) in Latin-America with unprecedented reports of vertical transmission resulting in congenital malformations and fetal death, redefines the threat posed by this arbovirus. We discovered that injection of a low inoculum of the epidemic OROVIRCCS-SCDC_1/2024 strain into the placenta of Swiss mice results in viral replication across embryonic organs, in particular the brain. Infected embryos present with multi-organ pathology, pneumonitis, myocarditis, steatohepatitis and severe neuropathology, including microcephaly, ventriculomegaly and neural loss. Neural cell populations are drastically altered due to massive cell death. OROV-induced neuroinflammation is marked by cytokine upregulation, microglial activation and neutrophil infiltration. When compared to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in the same model, a much lower inoculum of OROV than of ZIKV results in embryonic malformations, with markedly distinct neurological developmental and immune responses. Our findings establish a link between congenital OROV infection and neurodevelopmental disease, underscoring its teratogenic potential. Biological sciences/Microbiology/Pathogens Biological sciences/Microbiology/Virology/Viral pathogenesis Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7981874","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":546943359,"identity":"4d5446ff-39a8-4ef3-9c30-bb3651d69a2f","order_by":0,"name":"Maïlis Darmuzey","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABYklEQVRIie2RMUvDQBSALxQyXdM1Hay/QDgptAgh4j/JEUg3EQRx80rhXCJdFUX/Qkuh84UDu1ybNdIlQezkYLcMkXoxJcZSxFEkH294vHsf7x4PgJKSP4nSZRYAMiokK7D1Qw0CZZ3DDYWsFYWANMuVupvnG0pW36IgsV3Zu+SEhYl5XLv1us/L2ADaZPoygomBR0IgtqS80QZVL/xSWgIThql9qs9wDzHLAXXRac0hdPB46iLvhvLmAdFsVFBYqqQhFKoziwPEHHUOdY7HPkS8Sh08YLClFxQ/kusnDD9kygogfyEVtMKjvlTeqXMhlXZcUAI5wlIZHmQKAyhIp1iyUnURV6hhITkFFJXocxc8FEoPCceG9WChPt0xu3ktHk88d2bsD7hmf/tYJ4rixMT3ouKF54bZ0HxHDV4Tc6fv2sMwPtN30eTKe9u8TIH8BEckr1V+6C9y+Mu+kpKSkv/PB4P0mrr36fA/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2788-8947","institution":"KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Virology, Antiviral Drug \u0026 Vaccine Research Group, Rega Institute for Medical Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maïlis","middleName":"","lastName":"Darmuzey","suffix":""},{"id":546943360,"identity":"4fa98df1-01cd-4be9-83a6-cf286bbe6119","order_by":1,"name":"Robert Verdijk","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Pathology, Section Neuropathology and Ophthalmic Pathology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Verdijk","suffix":""},{"id":546943361,"identity":"de2cfe7e-2539-4ebe-83d0-65597a44bdaf","order_by":2,"name":"Martin Ferrié","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Virology, Antiviral Drug \u0026 Vaccine Research Group, Rega Institute for Medical Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martin","middleName":"","lastName":"Ferrié","suffix":""},{"id":546943362,"identity":"684d7131-25f0-45ed-82c6-ab65f47cd6e0","order_by":3,"name":"Niels Cremers","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Virology, Antiviral Drug \u0026 Vaccine Research Group, Rega Institute for Medical Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Niels","middleName":"","lastName":"Cremers","suffix":""},{"id":546943363,"identity":"84b88397-d26c-4f66-aa2c-b1ce5b218612","order_by":4,"name":"Stijn Hendrickx","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"KU Leuven Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Virology, Antiviral Drug \u0026 Vaccine Research Group, Rega Institute for Medical Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stijn","middleName":"","lastName":"Hendrickx","suffix":""},{"id":546943364,"identity":"517a06e6-a17a-4322-bb89-9d6239066470","order_by":5,"name":"Alexandre Hego","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7968-6795","institution":"GIGA Cell Imaging, University of Liege","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alexandre","middleName":"","lastName":"Hego","suffix":""},{"id":546943365,"identity":"8c1a7fdc-d4a9-4aad-b626-ed597d6765a1","order_by":6,"name":"Concetta Castilletti","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9819-236X","institution":"IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Concetta","middleName":"","lastName":"Castilletti","suffix":""},{"id":546943366,"identity":"169a3778-0c2f-40cb-8129-ec957e982185","order_by":7,"name":"Suzanne Kaptein","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7935-0219","institution":"KU Leuven - 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