IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-17367-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Mathilde Richard

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Adinda Kok

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Dennis Meulder

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Theo M. Bestebroer

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Mart M. Lamers

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Nisreen M. A. Okba

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Martje Fentener van Vlissingen

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Barry Rockx

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Bart L. Haagmans

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Marion P. G. Koopmans

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Ron A. M. Fouchier

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

  • Sander Herfst

    (Erasmus University Medical Center)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathilde Richard & Adinda Kok & Dennis Meulder & Theo M. Bestebroer & Mart M. Lamers & Nisreen M. A. Okba & Martje Fentener van Vlissingen & Barry Rockx & Bart L. Haagmans & Marion P. G. Koopmans & Ro, 2020. "SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via contact and via the air between ferrets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17367-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17367-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17367-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-17367-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robert M. Cox & Josef D. Wolf & Carolin M. Lieber & Julien Sourimant & Michelle J. Lin & Darius Babusis & Venice DuPont & Julie Chan & Kim T. Barrett & Diane Lye & Rao Kalla & Kwon Chun & Richard L. M, 2021. "Oral prodrug of remdesivir parent GS-441524 is efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Carolin M. Lieber & Robert M. Cox & Julien Sourimant & Josef D. Wolf & Kate Juergens & Quynh Phung & Manohar T. Saindane & Meghan K. Smith & Zachary M. Sticher & Alexander A. Kalykhalov & Michael G. N, 2022. "SARS-CoV-2 VOC type and biological sex affect molnupiravir efficacy in severe COVID-19 dwarf hamster model," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Michael H. J. Rhodin & Archie C. Reyes & Anand Balakrishnan & Nalini Bisht & Nicole M. Kelly & Joyce Sweeney Gibbons & Jonathan Lloyd & Michael Vaine & Tessa Cressey & Miranda Crepeau & Ruichao Shen &, 2024. "The small molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro EDP-235 prevents viral replication and transmission in vivo," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Bruno A. Rodriguez-Rodriguez & Grace O. Ciabattoni & Ralf Duerr & Ana M. Valero-Jimenez & Stephen T. Yeung & Keaton M. Crosse & Austin R. Schinlever & Lucie Bernard-Raichon & Joaquin Rodriguez Galvan , 2023. "A neonatal mouse model characterizes transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 variants and reveals a role for ORF8," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17367-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.