Elsevier

Antiviral Research

Volume 198, February 2022, 105253
Antiviral Research

The omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern does not readily infect Syrian hamsters

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105253Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • End of Nov 2021, WHO classified the omicron variant as a variant of concern.

  • The omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant does not replicate in Syrian hamsters lungs.

  • There are no signs of COVID19-like pathology in lungs of omicron-infected hamsters.

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic. End of November 2021, a new SARS-CoV-2 variant namely the omicron (B.1.1.529) emerged. Since this omicron variant is heavily mutated in the spike protein, WHO classified this variant as the 5th variant of concern (VoC). We previously demonstrated that the ancestral strain and the other SARS-CoV-2 VoCs replicate efficiently in and cause a COVID19-like pathology in Syrian hamsters. We here wanted to explore the infectivity of the omicron variant in comparison to the ancestral D614G strain in the hamster model. Strikingly, in hamsters that had been infected with the omicron variant, a 3 log10 lower viral RNA load was detected in the lungs as compared to animals infected with D614G and no infectious virus was detectable in this organ. Moreover, histopathological examination of the lungs from omicron-infected hamsters revealed no signs of peri-bronchial inflammation or bronchopneumonia.

Keywords

COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2 VoC
Omicron
Hamsters
Infectivity

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