Respiratory disease in rhesus macaques inoculated with SARS-CoV-2
Vincent J. Munster, Friederike Feldmann, Brandi N. Williamson, Neeltje van Doremalen, Lizzette Pérez-Pérez, Jonathan Schulz, Kimberly Meade-White, Atsushi Okumura, Julie Callison, Beniah Brumbaugh, Victoria A. Avanzato, Rebecca Rosenke, Patrick W. Hanley, Greg Saturday, Dana Scott, Elizabeth R. Fischer & Emmie de Wit
Nature (2020)
Abstract
An outbreak of a novel coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, causing respiratory disease and a ~2% case fatality rate started in Wuhan, China in December 20191,2. Following unprecedented global spread3, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Although data on disease in humans are emerging at a steady pace, certain aspects of the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 can only be studied in detail in animal models, where repeated sampling and tissue collection is possible. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 causes respiratory disease in infected rhesus macaques, with disease lasting 8-16 days. Pulmonary infiltrates, a hallmark of human disease, were visible in lung radiographs. High viral loads were detected in swabs from the nose and throat of all animals as well as in bronchoalveolar lavages; in one animal we observed prolonged rectal shedding.