ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2020
Rift Valley fever virus targets the maternal-foetal interface in ovine and human placentas.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical manifestations of Rift Valley fever in humans: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Pooled it
- Pathogenicity of Rift Valley fever virus: Organ-specific clinical outcomes and hidden drivers of virulence - a narrative review.Virulence · 2026Review
- Rift Valley Fever at Europe's Risk Frontier: Climate, Vectors, and One Health Preparedness.Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- Dissecting placental host-pathogen interactions: Rift Valley fever virus infection in early human trophoblast stem cells.iScience · 2026Article
- Article
- A Species-Independent Lateral Flow Test to Detect Rift Valley Fever Virus Antibodies Using a Double Antigen Approach.Viruses · 2026Article
- Human and livestock exposure to Rift Valley fever virus and Coxiella burnetii in Eastern Ethiopia: a One Health cross-sectional study.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Interleukin-27 is antiviral against Zika virus at the maternal-fetal interface.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Ultrastructural Insight into Rift Valley Fever Virus Pathogenesis in Different Human Cell Types.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Oropouche virus infects human trophoblasts and placenta explants.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Understanding the Burden of Agriculturally Significant Vector-Borne and Parasitic Diseases in Kansas.Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) · 2025Review
- Interleukin-27 is antiviral at the maternal-fetal interface.Research square · 2025Article
- The public health threat of emerging phenuiviruses.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- A Review of Emerging Viral Pathogens and Current Concerns for Vertical Transmission of Infection.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Review
- Vaccine strains of Rift Valley fever virus exhibit attenuation at the maternal-fetal placental interface.Journal of virology · 2024Article
- Vaccine strains of Rift Valley fever virus exhibit attenuation at the maternal-fetal placental interface.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Arboviruses and pregnancy: are the threats visible or hidden?Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines · 2024Article
- Laboratory Animal Models for Rift Valley Fever Virus Disease.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Rift Valley fever in West Africa: A zoonotic disease with multiple socio-economic consequences.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2023Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an arbovirus of the order Bunyavirales that causes severe disease in ruminants and humans. Outbreaks in sheep herds are characterised by newborn fatalities and abortion storms. The association of RVFV infections with abortions of ovines and other ruminants is well recognized, whereas the pathology resulting in abortion has remained undescribed. Accumulating evidence suggests that RVFV is abortogenic in humans as well, warranting more research on the interaction of RVFV with the ruminant and human placenta. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsPregnant ewes were inoculated with a highly virulent strain of RVFV and necropsied at different days post infection. Tissues were collected and analysed by PCR, virus isolation, and immunohistochemistry. The results show that RVFV replicates efficiently in maternal placental epithelial cells before the virus infects foetal trophoblasts. Moreover, the virus was shown to bypass the maternal epithelial cell layer by directly targeting foetal trophoblasts in the haemophagous zone, a region of the ovine placenta where maternal blood is in direct contact with foetal cells. Abortion was associated with widespread necrosis of placental tissues accompanied with severe haemorrhages. Experiments with human placental explants revealed that the same virus strain replicates efficiently in both cyto- and syncytiotrophoblasts. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates that RVFV targets the foetal-maternal interface in both ovine and human placentas. The virus was shown to cross the ovine placental barrier via two distinct routes, ultimately resulting in placental and foetal demise followed by abortion. Our finding that RVFV replicates efficiently in human trophoblasts underscores the risk of RVFV infection for human pregnancy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.