The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) does not replicate in Syrian hamsters.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 23844250.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0069127 and PMC identifier 3699510.
- Licence recorded as CC0.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In 2012 a novel coronavirus, MERS-CoV, associated with severe respiratory disease emerged in the Arabian Peninsula. To date, 55 human cases have been reported, including 31 fatal cases. Several of the cases were likely a result of human-to-human transmission. The emergence of this novel coronavirus prompts the need for a small animal model to study the pathogenesis of this virus and to test the efficacy of potential intervention strategies. In this study we explored the use of Syrian hamsters as a small animal disease model, using intratracheal inoculation and inoculation via aerosol. Clinical signs of disease, virus replication, histological lesions, cytokine upregulation nor seroconversion were observed in any of the inoculated animals, indicating that MERS-CoV does not replicate in Syrian hamsters.
Medical subject headings
- Coronavirus
- Coronavirus Infections
- Mesocricetus
- Respiratory Tract Infections
- Virus Replication