PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Elodie Monchatre-Leroy
AU  - Sandrine Lesellier
AU  - Marine Wasniewski
AU  - Evelyne Picard-Meyer
AU  - Céline Richomme
AU  - Franck Boué
AU  - Sandra Lacôte
AU  - Séverine Murri
AU  - Coralie Pulido
AU  - Johann Vulin
AU  - Francisco J Salguero
AU  - Meriadeg Ar Gouilh
AU  - Alexandre Servat
AU  - Philippe Marianneau
TI  - Hamster and ferret experimental infection with intranasal low dose of a single strain of SARS-CoV-2
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.24.311977
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.24.311977
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/24/2020.09.24.311977.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/24/2020.09.24.311977.full
AB  - Understanding the pathogenesis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection is key to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies against COVID-19, in the case of severe illness but also when the disease is mild. The use of appropriate experimental animal models remains central in the in-vivo exploration of the physiopathology of infection and antiviral strategies. This study describes SARS-CoV-2 intra-nasal infection in ferrets and hamsters with low doses of low-passage SARS-CoV-2 clinical French isolate UCN19, describing infection levels, excretion, immune responses and pathological patterns in both animal species. Individual infection with 103 pfu SARS-CoV-2 induced a more severe disease in hamsters than in ferrets. Viral RNA was detected in the lungs of hamsters but not of ferrets and in the brain (olfactive and/or spinal bulbs) of both species. Overall, the clinical disease remained mild, with serological responses detected from 7 days and 10 days post inoculation in hamsters and ferrets respectively. Virus became undetectable and pathology resolved within 14 days. The kinetics and levels of infection can be used in ferrets and hamsters as experimental models for understanding the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2, and testing the protective effect of drugs.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.