PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mathias Martins
AU  - Maureen H.V. Fernandes
AU  - Lok R. Joshi
AU  - Diego G. Diel
TI  - Age-related susceptibility of ferrets to SARS-CoV-2 infection
AID  - 10.1101/2021.08.16.456510
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.08.16.456510
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/16/2021.08.16.456510.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/16/2021.08.16.456510.full
AB  - Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 and the outcome of COVID-19 have been linked to underlying health conditions and the age of affected individuals. Here we assessed the effect of age on SARS-CoV-2 infection using a ferret model. For this, young (6-month-old) and aged (18-to-39-month-old) ferrets were inoculated intranasally with various doses of SARS-CoV-2. By using infectious virus shedding in respiratory secretions and seroconversion, we estimated that the infectious dose of SARS-CoV-2 in aged animals is ∼32 plaque forming units (PFU) per animal while in young animals it was estimated to be ∼100 PFU. We showed that viral replication in the upper respiratory tract and shedding in respiratory secretions is enhanced in aged ferrets when compared to young animals. Similar to observations in humans, this was associated with higher expressions levels of two key viral entry factors - ACE2 and TMPRSS2 - in the upper respiratory tract of aged ferrets.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.