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Simulation of the clinical and pathological manifestations of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in golden Syrian hamster model: implications for disease pathogenesis and transmissibility
spotlight topic:
COVID-19 and animals
Experimental studies
Simulation of the clinical and pathological manifestations of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in golden Syrian hamster model: implications for disease pathogenesis and transmissibility
Published 27 April 2020
Chan J.F. et al. (2020) Simulation of the clinical and pathological manifestations of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in golden Syrian hamster model: implications for disease pathogenesis and transmissibility Clinical Infectious Diseases
https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa325/5811871
This paper reports on the use of the Syrian hamster as a model for human infection and an important tool for studying transmission, pathogenesis, treatment, and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.
The importance from a veterinary perspective is the information that the Syrian hamster could be consistently infected by SARS-CoV-2. Clinical signs of rapid breathing, weight loss, high lung viral load, and spleen and lymphoid atrophy associated with marked cytokine activation were observed within the first week of virus challenge. Hamsters consistently infected naïve contact hamsters housed within the same cage, resulting in similar pathology but not weight loss. All infected hamsters recovered and developed mean serum neutralising antibody titre fourteen days post-challenge.
Although this is again reporting on experimental infection, in view of the potential for hamsters to become infected, owners with confirmed or suspected symptoms of COVID-19 should observe strict hygiene measures when handling their pet.