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Abstract
Widespread circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in humans raises the theoretical risk of reverse zoonosis events with wildlife, reintroductions of SARS-CoV-2 into permissive nondomesticated animals. Here we report that North American deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection following intranasal exposure to a human isolate, resulting in viral replication in the upper and lower respiratory tract with little or no signs of disease. Further, shed infectious virus is detectable in nasal washes, oropharyngeal and rectal swabs, and viral RNA is detectable in feces and occasionally urine. We further show that deer mice are capable of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to naïve deer mice through direct contact. The extent to which these observations may translate to wild deer mouse populations remains unclear, and the risk of reverse zoonosis and/or the potential for the establishment of Peromyscus rodents as a North American reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown.
Highlights
Widespread circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in humans raises the theoretical risk of reverse zoonosis events with wildlife, reintroductions of SARS-CoV-2 into permissive nondomesticated animals
We found that deer mouse angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) differed from human ACE2 (hACE2) S-contacting residues at four locations and that the amino acid differences were unlikely to have a detrimental effect on S binding efficiency[36]
The described experiments demonstrate that adult deer mice are susceptible to experimental infection with a human isolate of SARS-CoV-2, resulting in asymptomatic infection or mild disease with lesions limited to mild lung pathology, despite a high viral burden and elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in the lungs and seroconversion
Summary
Widespread circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in humans raises the theoretical risk of reverse zoonosis events with wildlife, reintroductions of SARS-CoV-2 into permissive nondomesticated animals. We report that North American deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection following intranasal exposure to a human isolate, resulting in viral replication in the upper and lower respiratory tract with little or no signs of disease. Like the other nonseasonal human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV10 and MERS-CoV11, SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be of bat origin[2,12] the related viruses have been identified in wild pangolins[13]. Several experimental animal models of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported including transgenic mice that express human ACE2 (hACE2)[15] and mouseadapted SARS-CoV-216, as well as tree shrews[17], hamsters[18,19], ferrets[20,21], fruit bats[22], rhesus macaques[23], cynomolgus macaques[24], marmosets[24], and African green monkeys[25] that are innately susceptible to infection with wildtype SARS-CoV-2
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