Ocular exposure to influenza virus represents an alternate route of virus entry capable of establishing a respiratory infection in mammals, but the effectiveness of currently available antiviral treatments to limit virus replication within ocular tissue or inhibit virus spread from ocular sites to the respiratory tract is poorly understood. Using an inoculation method that delivers an aerosol inoculum exclusively to the ocular surface, we demonstrate that oral oseltamivir administration following ocular-only aerosol inoculation with multiple avian and human influenza viruses protected ferrets from a fatal and systemic infection, reduced clinical signs and symptoms of illness, and decreased virus transmissibility to susceptible contacts when a respiratory infection was initiated. The presence of oseltamivir further inhibited influenza virus replication in primary human corneal epithelial cells. These findings provide critical experimental evidence supporting the use of neuraminidase inhibitors during outbreaks of influenza virus resulting in ocular disease or following ocular exposure.
Keywords: Aerosol; Antiviral; Ferret model; Influenza virus; Oseltamivir (Tamiflu); Transmission.
Published by Elsevier Inc.