Comparative Assessment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants in the Ferret Model

Pulit-Penaloza, Joanna A.; Belser, Jessica A.; Sun, Xiangjie; Pappas, Claudia; Brock, Nicole; Kieran, Troy J.; Ritter, Jana M.; Seixas, Josilene N.; Jones, Joyce; Thakur, Poulami Basu; Pusch, Elizabeth; Wang, Li; Tumpey, Terrence M.; Wentworth, David E.; Zhou, Bin; Maines, Taronna R.

doi:10.1128/mbio.02421-22

Comparative Assessment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants in the Ferret Model

Journal Article · Thu Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · mBio (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02421-22· OSTI ID:2425615

Pulit-Penaloza, Joanna A. ^[1]; Belser, Jessica A. ^[1]; Sun, Xiangjie ^[1]; Pappas, Claudia ^[1]; Brock, Nicole ^[1]; Kieran, Troy J. ^[1]; Ritter, Jana M. ^[1]; Seixas, Josilene N. ^[1]; Jones, Joyce ^[1]; Thakur, Poulami Basu ^[1]; Pusch, Elizabeth ^[1]; Wang, Li ^[1]; Tumpey, Terrence M. ^[1]; Wentworth, David E. ^[1]; Zhou, Bin ^[1]; ^[1]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA (United States)

The continued spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in humans necessitates evaluation of variants for enhanced virulence and transmission. We used the ferret model to perform a comparative analysis of four SARS-CoV-2 strains, including an early pandemic isolate from the United States (WA1), and representatives of the Alpha, Beta, and Delta lineages. While Beta virus was not capable of pronounced replication in ferrets, WA1, Alpha, and Delta viruses productively replicated in the ferret upper respiratory tract, despite causing only mild disease with no overt histopathological changes. Strain-specific transmissibility was observed; WA1 and Delta viruses transmitted in a direct contact setting, whereas Delta virus was also capable of limited airborne transmission. Viral RNA was shed in exhaled air particles from all inoculated animals but was highest for Delta virus. Prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 offered varied protection against reinfection with either homologous or heterologous variants. Notable genomic variants in the spike protein were most frequently detected following WA1 and Delta virus infection.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0014664

OSTI ID:: 2425615

Journal Information:: mBio (Online), Journal Name: mBio (Online) Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 13; ISSN 2150-7511

Publisher:: American Society for Microbiology (ASM)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
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Comparative Assessment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants in the Ferret Model

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