Respiratory disease and virus shedding in rhesus macaques inoculated with SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: An outbreak of a novel coronavirus, now named SARS-CoV-2, causing respiratory disease and a ~2% case fatality rate started in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Following unprecedented rapid global spread, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Although data on disease in humans are emerging at a steady pace, certain aspects of the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 can only be studied in detail in animal models, where repeated sampling and tissue collection is possible. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 causes respiratory disease in infected rhesus macaques, with disease lasting 8-16 days. Pulmonary infiltrates, a hallmark of human disease, were visible in lung radiographs of all animals. High viral loads were detected in swabs from the nose and throat of all animal

SUBMITTER: Munster VJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7217148 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature