Characterisation and natural progression of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ferrets.

ABSTRACT: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the infectious disease COVID-19, which has rapidly become an international pandemic with significant impact on healthcare systems and the global economy. To assist antiviral therapy and vaccine development efforts, we performed a natural history/time course study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ferrets to characterise and assess the suitability of this animal model. Ten ferrets of each sex were challenged intranasally with 4.64 × 10⁴ TCID₅₀ of SARS-CoV-2 isolate Australia/VIC01/2020 and monitored for clinical disease signs, viral shedding, and tissues collected post-mortem for histopathological and virological assessment at set intervals. We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicated in the upper respira

SUBMITTER: Au GG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8981194 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature