video: Pregnant rats are infected at gestation day 14. Top Row: About half of the infected pregnant rats succumb directly to Rift Valley fever disease. Rift Valley fever virus is found throughout the mother and pups. Bottom Row: About half of the infected pregnant rats will remain asymptomatic and will deliver pups 8 days later, at normal gestation length. Asymptomatic pregnant rats can deliver pups that are dead at birth, with virus and tissue damage within the pups and the placenta. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Dec. 05, 2018, issue of Science Advances, published by AAAS. The paper, by C.M. McMillen at University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA, and colleagues was titled, "Rift Valley fever virus induces fetal demise in Sprague-Dawley rats through direct placental infection." view more
Credit: [Credit: Composit credit to Amy L. Hartman Animal drawing credit to Henry Ma]