Respiratory disease in rhesus macaques inoculated with SARS-CoV-2

Vincent J. Munster, Friederike Feldmann, Brandi N. Williamson, Neeltje 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 and Emmie Wit ()
Additional contact information
Vincent J. Munster: National Institutes of Health
Friederike Feldmann: National Institutes of Health
Brandi N. Williamson: National Institutes of Health
Neeltje Doremalen: National Institutes of Health
Lizzette Pérez-Pérez: National Institutes of Health
Jonathan Schulz: National Institutes of Health
Kimberly Meade-White: National Institutes of Health
Atsushi Okumura: National Institutes of Health
Julie Callison: National Institutes of Health
Beniah Brumbaugh: National Institutes of Health
Victoria A. Avanzato: National Institutes of Health
Rebecca Rosenke: National Institutes of Health
Patrick W. Hanley: National Institutes of Health
Greg Saturday: National Institutes of Health
Dana Scott: National Institutes of Health
Elizabeth R. Fischer: National Institutes of Health
Emmie Wit: National Institutes of Health

Nature, 2020, vol. 585, issue 7824, 268-272

Abstract: Abstract An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by a novel coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) and has a case fatality rate of approximately 2%, started in Wuhan (China) in December 20191,2. Following an unprecedented global spread3, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. Although data on COVID-19 in humans are emerging at a steady pace, some aspects of the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 can be studied in detail only in animal models, in which repeated sampling and tissue collection is possible. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2 causes a respiratory disease in rhesus macaques that lasts between 8 and 16 days. Pulmonary infiltrates, which are a hallmark of COVID-19 in humans, were visible in lung radiographs. We detected high viral loads in swabs from the nose and throat of all of the macaques, as well as in bronchoalveolar lavages; in one macaque, we observed prolonged rectal shedding. Together, the rhesus macaque recapitulates the moderate disease that has been observed in the majority of human cases of COVID-19. The establishment of the rhesus macaque as a model of COVID-19 will increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease, and aid in the development and testing of medical countermeasures.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2324-7

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