Document Type

Report

Publication Date

5-2018

Abstract

The purpose of this UGP proposal was to develop methods to measure transmissibility of SNV in deermice. Transmissibility is the probability of transmission of the virus to a susceptible mouse, given contact with an infected mouse, and is a function of each animal’s physiological stress level and immunity. If an animal is more stressed, its immunity will be depressed, which will increase susceptibility (of uninfected mice) and infectiousness (of infected mice). Therefore, in order to measure transmissibility, we need to develop methods to measure stress levels, immune function, and viral loads in deermice. With this UGP seed grant, we developed a trapping protocol, collected blood and fecal samples from deermice from several study sites across Western Montana, developed and validated stress assays, developed a technique to measure immune function using blood smears, and set up a PCR to quantify viral loads in blood.

Rights

© 2018 Angela Luis

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