Susceptibility of sheep to experimental co-infection with the ancestral lineage of SARS-CoV-2 and its alpha variant
Authors
Natasha N. Gaudreault, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Konner Cool, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Jessie D. Trujillo, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Igor Morozov, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
David A. Meekins, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Chester McDowell, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Dashzeveg Bold, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Mariano Carossino, Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Velmurugan Balaraman, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Dana Mitzel, Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Taeyong Kwon, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Daniel W. Madden, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Bianca Libanori Artiaga, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Roman M. Pogranichniy, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Gleyder Roman-Sosa, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
William C. Wilson, Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit, National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, United States Department of Agriculture, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Udeni B. Balasuriya, Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Adolfo García-Sastre, Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Juergen A. Richt, Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Publication Date
11-22-2021
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for a global pandemic that has had significant impacts on human health and economies worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 is highly transmissible and the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans. A wide range of animal species have also been shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection by experimental and/or natural infections. Domestic and large cats, mink, ferrets, hamsters, deer mice, white-tailed deer, and non-human primates have been shown to be highly susceptible, whereas other species such as mice, dogs, pigs, and cattle appear to be refractory to infection or have very limited susceptibility. Sheep (Ovis aries) are a commonly farmed domestic ruminant that have not previously been thoroughly investigated for their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, we performed in vitro and in vivo studies which consisted of infection of ruminant-derived cell cultures and experimental challenge of sheep to investigate their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. Our results showed that sheep-derived cell cultures support SARS-CoV-2 replication. Furthermore, experimental challenge of sheep demonstrated limited infection with viral RNA shed in nasal and oral swabs primarily at 1-day post challenge (DPC), and also detected in the respiratory tract and lymphoid tissues at 4 and 8 DPC. Sero-reactivity was also observed in some of the principal infected sheep but not the contact sentinels, indicating that transmission to co-mingled naive sheep was not highly efficient; hovewer, viral RNA was detected in some of the respiratory tract tissues of sentinel animals at 21 DPC. Furthermore, we used challenge inoculum consisting of a mixture of two SARS-CoV-2 isolates, representatives of the ancestral lineage A and the B.1.1.7-like alpha variant of concern (VOC), to study competition of the two virus strains. Our results indicate that sheep show low susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and that the alpha VOC outcompeted the ancestral lineage A strain.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
Recommended Citation
Gaudreault, N. N., Cool, K., Trujillo, J. D., Morozov, I., Meekins, D. A., McDowell, C., Bold, D., Carossino, M., Balaraman, V., Mitzel, D., Kwon, T., Madden, D. W., Artiaga, B. L., Pogranichniy, R. M., Roman-Sosa, G., Wilson, W. C., Balasuriya, U. B., García-Sastre, A., & Richt, J. A.
(2021). Susceptibility of sheep to experimental co-infection with the ancestral lineage of SARS-CoV-2 and its alpha variant. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.15.468720
