PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Konner Cool
AU  - Natasha N. Gaudreault
AU  - Igor Morozov
AU  - Jessie D. Trujillo
AU  - David A. Meekins
AU  - Chester McDowell
AU  - Mariano Carossino
AU  - Dashzeveg Bold
AU  - Taeyong Kwon
AU  - Velmurugan Balaraman
AU  - Daniel W. Madden
AU  - Bianca Libanori Artiaga
AU  - Roman M. Pogranichniy
AU  - Gleyder Roman Sosa
AU  - Jamie Henningson
AU  - William C. Wilson
AU  - Udeni B. R. Balasuriya
AU  - Adolfo García-Sastre
AU  - Juergen A. Richt
TI  - Infection and transmission of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and its alpha variant in pregnant white-tailed deer
AID  - 10.1101/2021.08.15.456341
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.08.15.456341
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/24/2021.08.15.456341.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/24/2021.08.15.456341.full
AB  - SARS-CoV-2, a novel Betacoronavirus, was first reported circulating in human populations in December 2019 and has since become a global pandemic. Recent history involving SARS-like coronavirus outbreaks (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) have demonstrated the significant role of intermediate and reservoir hosts in viral maintenance and transmission cycles. Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and experimental infections of a wide variety of animal species has been demonstrated, and in silico and in vitro studies have indicated that deer are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are amongst the most abundant, densely populated, and geographically widespread wild ruminant species in the United States. Human interaction with white-tailed deer has resulted in the occurrence of disease in human populations in the past. Recently, white-tailed deer fawns were shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, we investigated the susceptibility and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in adult white-tailed deer. In addition, we examined the competition of two SARS-CoV-2 isolates, representatives of the ancestral lineage A (SARS-CoV-2/human/USA/WA1/2020) and the alpha variant of concern (VOC) B.1.1.7 (SARS-CoV-2/human/USA/CA_CDC_5574/2020), through co-infection of white-tailed deer. Next-generation sequencing was used to determine the presence and transmission of each strain in the co-infected and contact sentinel animals. Our results demonstrate that adult white-tailed deer are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and can transmit the virus through direct contact as well as vertically from doe to fetus. Additionally, we determined that the alpha VOC B.1.1.7 isolate of SARS-CoV-2 outcompetes the ancestral lineage A isolate in white-tailed deer, as demonstrated by the genome of the virus shed from nasal and oral cavities from principal infected and contact animals, and from virus present in tissues of principal infected deer, fetuses and contact animals.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.