Therapeutic effect of post-exposure treatment with antiserum on severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in a mouse model of SFTS virus infection

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging viral disease that is endemic in China, Korea and Japan. No effective vaccine or specific treatment for SFTS is currently available. Here, we used a mouse model to examine the effects of ribavirin, site-1 protease inhibitor PF-429242, steroids, and combination of minocycline and ciprofloxacin (MC) on SFTS infection. The antiserum from a patient who recovered from SFTS was also examined for its effect on mice. Administration of antiserum completely protected mice against lethal infection with SFTSV. It could also protect mice from showing clinical signs of the disease due to non-lethal infection. MC-treatment resulted in prolonged survival times during lethal infection. Although other agents had no significant protective effects, they did not provide detrimental effects that could lead to progression of the disease in mice. Our results suggest that antiserum treatment may be clinically useful for post-exposure prophylaxis against SFTSV infection.