TY - JOUR T1 - <em>In vivo</em> evaluation of the antiviral effect of ClO<sub>2</sub> in chicken embryos inoculated with avian infectious bronchitis coronavirus JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.10.13.336768 SP - 2020.10.13.336768 AU - Xóchitl Zambrano-Estrada AU - Carlos Domínguez-Sánchez AU - Marina Banuet-Martínez AU - Fabiola Guerrero de la Rosa AU - Teresa García-Gasca AU - Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/14/2020.10.13.336768.abstract N2 - The need for safe and effective antiviral treatments is pressing, particularly given the number of viral infections that are prevalent in animal and human populations, often causing devastating economic losses and mortality. In the context of the current coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted how devastating the effects of a virus can be on a naïve population, it is imperative to have rigorous and unbiased data on the efficacy and safety of potential antiviral treatments, particularly those that have demonstrated virucidal effects as a disinfectant, are being considered for use despite warnings on their potential toxicity, but no not have empirical evidence of their antiviral effect in vivo. Here, we tested the effect of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) on chick embryos infected with avian infectious bronchitis coronavirus (IBV). We determined virus-induced mortality on 10-day old embryos inoculated with 104 mean EID50/mL of attenuated Massachusetts and Connecticut IBV strains. We determined viral titres using RT-qPCR and conducted histopathological examination of various tissues and organs. Viral titres were 2.4-fold lower and mortality was reduced by half in infected embryos that were treated with ClO2. Infection led to developmental abnormalities regardless of treatment. Lesions typical of IBV infections were observed in all inoculated embryos, but severity tended to be lower in ClO2-treated embryos. We found no gross or microscopic evidence of toxicity caused by ClO2 at the doses used herein. Our study shows that ClO2 could be a safe and viable option for controlling avian coronavirus, and raises the possibility that similar effects could be observed in other organisms.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -