Comparison of Experimental Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection Acquired by Three Individual Routes of Infection in the Common Marmoset.
J Virol
; 96(4): e0173921, 2022 02 23.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2193455
ABSTRACT
Two strains of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), England 1 and Erasmus Medical Centre/2012 (EMC/2012), were used to challenge common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) by three routes of infection aerosol, oral, and intranasal. Animals challenged by the intranasal and aerosol routes presented with mild, transient disease, while those challenged by the oral route presented with a subclinical immunological response. Animals challenged with MERS-CoV strain EMC/2012 by the aerosol route responded with primary and/or secondary pyrexia. Marmosets had minimal to mild multifocal interstitial pneumonia, with the greatest relative severity being observed in animals challenged by the aerosol route. Viable virus was isolated from the host in throat swabs and lung tissue. The transient disease described is consistent with a successful host response and was characterized by the upregulation of macrophage and neutrophil function observed in all animals at the time of euthanasia. IMPORTANCE Middle East respiratory syndrome is caused by a human coronavirus, MERS-CoV, similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Humans typically exhibit fever, cough, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal issues, and breathing difficulties, which can lead to pneumonia and/or renal complications. This emerging disease resulted in the first human lethal cases in 2012 and has a case fatality rate of approximately 36%. Consequently, there is a need for medical countermeasures and appropriate animal models for their assessment. This work has demonstrated the requirement for higher concentrations of virus to cause overt disease. Challenge by the aerosol, intranasal, and oral routes resulted in no or mild disease, but all animals had an immunological response. This shows that an appropriate early immunological response is able to control the disease.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Disease Models, Animal
/
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Virol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jvi.01739-21
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