Figure 1.

Virus titers in blood and urine of infected Mastomys. Neonates were inoculated with MORV at the age of 2 days (a) or exposed to the virus (b) via direct contact with infected individuals. Furthermore, Mastomys were inoculated with MORV at 6 days (c) or 14 days (d) post-birth. (e) Neonates were inoculated with MOBV at the age of 2 days. Blood and urine were collected at regular intervals and tested for the presence of MORV or MOBV RNA with qRT-PCR. Ct values were converted into copy numbers using a standard curve. Blood samples are depicted as red dots and urine samples were indicated by yellow triangles. Plasma was inactivated and analyzed for the presence of MORV- or MOBV-specific antibodies with indirect immune fluorescence. The presence of virus-specific antibodies is marked by the light grey area. The limit of detection for the qRT-PCR assay is shown by the dotted line and dark grey coloration. Negative samples have been assigned a default value below the detection limit.