SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via contact and via the air between ferrets

  1. Mathilde Richard
  2. Adinda Kok
  3. Dennis de Meulder
  4. Theo M. Bestebroer
  5. Mart M. Lamers
  6. Nisreen M. A. Okba
  7. Martje Fentener van Vlissingen
  8. Barry Rockx
  9. Bart L. Haagmans
  10. Marion P. G. Koopmans
  11. Ron A. M. Fouchier
  12. Sander Herfst

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Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that emerged in late 2019, has spread rapidly worldwide, and information about the modes of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among humans is critical to apply appropriate infection control measures and to slow its spread. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted efficiently via direct contact and via the air (via respiratory droplets and/or aerosols) between ferrets, 1 to 3 days and 3 to 7 days after exposure respectively. The pattern of virus shedding in the direct contact and indirect recipient ferrets is similar to that of the inoculated ferrets and infectious virus is isolated from all positive animals, showing that ferrets are productively infected via either route. This study provides experimental evidence of robust transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via the air, supporting the implementation of community-level social distancing measures currently applied in many countries in the world and informing decisions on infection control measures in healthcare settings.

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  1. Version published to 10.1038/s41467-020-17367-2
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.04.16.044503: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIACUC: Research was conducted under a project license from the Dutch competent authority (license number AVD1010020174312) and the study protocol was approved by the institutional Animal Welfare Body (Erasmus MC permit number 17-4312-02).
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableInfluenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 and Aleutian Disease Virus seronegative 6 month-old female ferrets (Mustela putorius furo), weighing 700–1000 g, were obtained from a commercial breeder (TripleF (USA)).
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Serology: Sera were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using a receptor binding domain (RBD) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as described previously, with some modifications 31.
    SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Bound antibodies were detected using horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labelled goat anti-ferret IgG (Abcam) and 3,3',5,5'-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB, Life Technologies) as a substrate.
    anti-ferret IgG
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    Swabs were stored at −80 °C in transport medium (Minimum Essential Medium Eagle with Hank's BSS (Lonza), 5 g L−1 lactalbumine enzymatic hydrolysate, 10% glycerol (Sigma-Aldrich), 200 U ml−1 of penicillin, 200 mg ml−1 of streptomycin, 100 U ml−1 of polymyxin B sulfate (Sigma-Aldrich), and 250 mg ml−1 of gentamicin (Life Technologies)) for end-point titration in VeroE6 cells as described below.
    VeroE6
    suggested: JCRB Cat# JCRB1819, RRID:CVCL_YQ49)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.16.044503v1 on bioRxiv