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. 2013 Jul 2;8(7):e69127.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069127. Print 2013.

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) does not replicate in Syrian hamsters

Emmie de Wit  1 , Joseph Prescott, Laura Baseler, Trenton Bushmaker, Tina Thomas, Matthew G Lackemeyer, Cynthia Martellaro, Shauna Milne-Price, Elaine Haddock, Bart L Haagmans, Heinz Feldmann, Vincent J Munster
Affiliations

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) does not replicate in Syrian hamsters

Emmie de Wit et al. PLoS One. .

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Body weight and temperature in Syrian hamsters inoculated with MERS-CoV isolate HCoV-EMC/2012.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histological analysis of lungs and kidney of Syrian hamsters inoculated with MERS-CoV isolate HCoV-EMC/2012.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mx2 gene expression in hamsters after inoculation with MERS-CoV isolate
Figure 4
Figure 4
Presence of DPP4 in hamster lung and kidney.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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