1887

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Volume 103, Issue 11

Infectious droplet exposure is an inefficient route for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the ferret model Open Access

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans, has a wide host range, naturally infecting felids, canids, cervids, rodents and mustelids. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is universally accepted to occur via contact with contaminated secretions from the respiratory epithelium, either directly or indirectly. Transmission via droplet nuclei, generated from a cough or sneeze, has also been reported in several human and experimental animal scenarios. However, the role of droplet transmission at the human–animal interface remains to be fully elucidated. Here, the ferret infection model was used to investigate the routes of infection for the SARS-CoV-2 beta variant (B.1.351). Ferrets were exposed to droplets containing infectious SARS-CoV-2, ranging between 4 and 106 µm in diameter, simulating larger droplets produced by a cough from an infected person. Following exposure, viral RNA was detected on the fur of ferrets, and was deposited onto environmental surfaces, as well as the fur of ferrets placed in direct contact; SARS-CoV-2 remained infectious on the fur for at least 48 h. Low levels of viral RNA were detected in the nasal washes early post-exposure, yet none of the directly exposed, or direct-contact ferrets, became robustly infected or seroconverted to SARS-CoV-2. In comparison, ferrets intranasally inoculated with the SARS-CoV-2 beta variant became robustly infected, shedding viral RNA and infectious virus from the nasal cavity, with transmission to 75 % of naive ferrets placed in direct contact. These data suggest that larger infectious droplet nuclei and contaminated fur play minor roles in SARS-CoV-2 transmission among mustelids and potentially other companion animals.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
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Keyword(s): aerosol , droplet , ferret , SARS-CoV-2 , transmission and zoonoses
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • COVID-19 National Core Studies Programme (Award EXOR1103)
    • Principle Award Recipient: SharonM Brookes
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/W006839/1)
    • Principle Award Recipient: SharonM Brookes
  • Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (Award 773830)
    • Principle Award Recipient: SharonM Brookes
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government (Award SE0558)
    • Principle Award Recipient: JoeJames
© 2022 Crown Copyright
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2022-11-22
2024-04-28
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Infectious droplet exposure is an inefficient route for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the ferret model
J. Gen. Virol. 103, 001799 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001799
/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.001799
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