Establishment of a Neonatal Natural Transmission Model for CMV Vaccine Development

A human cytomegalovirus vaccine to prevent congenital disease is a public health priority. We previously demonstrated that vaccine-elicited rhesus CMV (RhCMV) neutralizing titers and T cell responses comparable to natural infection failed to protect from RhCMV infection after experimental oral challenge. Consequently, we established a natural transmission model in which newborn rhesus macaques are co-housed with their RhCMV-positive mothers and immunized five times between 0 and 24 months with g