Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans, has a broad host range, and is able to infect domestic and wild animal species. Notably, white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus), the most widely distributed cervid species in the Americas, were shown to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 in challenge studies and reported natural infection/exposure rates approaching 30-40% in free-ranging WTD in the U.S. Thus, understanding the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD is critical to prevent future zoonotic transmission to humans, at the human-WTD interface during hunting or venison farming, and for implementation of effective disease control measures. Here, we demonstrated that following intranasal inoculation with SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage, WTD fawns (~8-month-old) shed infectious virus up to day 5 post-inoculation (pi), with high viral loads shed in nasal and oral secretions. This resulted in efficient deer-to-deer transmission on day 3 pi. Consistent a with lack of infectious SARS-CoV-2 shedding after day 5 pi, no transmission was observed to contact animals added on days 6 and 9 pi. We have also investigated the tropism and sites of SARS-CoV-2 replication in adult WTD (3-4 years of age). Infectious virus was detected up to day 6 pi in nasal secretions, and from various respiratory-, lymphoid-, and central nervous system tissues, indicating broad tissue tropism and multiple sites of virus replication. The study provides important insights on the infection and transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD, a wild animal species that is highly susceptible to infection and with the potential to become a reservoir for the virus in the field.
【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, Infection, Transmission, nasal, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, virus, Measures, Viral load, humans, disease control, implementation, Transmission dynamics, virus replication, host range, age, white-tailed deer, deer, Central nervous system, natural infection, disease, Critical, hunting, SARS-CoV-2 replication, intranasal, Infectious virus, Contact, tropism, tissue tropism, causative agent, wild animal, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, tissues, zoonotic transmission, lymphoid, B.1 lineage, reservoir, Americas, infect, susceptible, Prevent, effective, shown, lack, reported, investigated, provide, added, demonstrated, Odocoileus, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, transmitted, replication site,