Bestebroer, T. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2020

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing for informed public health decision making in the Netherlands

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that has rapidly spread across the globe. In the Netherlands, the first case of SARS-CoV-2 has been notified on the 27th of February. Here, we describe the first three weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the Netherlands, which started with several different introductory events from Italy, Austria, Germany and France followed by local amplification in, and later also, outside the South of the Netherlands. The timely generation of whole genome sequences combined with epidemiological investigations facilitated early decision making in an attempt to control local transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Comparative Pathogenesis Of COVID-19, MERS And SARS In A Non-Human Primate Model

A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was recently identified in patients with an acute respiratory syndrome, COVID-19. To compare its pathogenesis with that of previously emerging coronaviruses, we inoculated cynomolgus macaques with SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV and compared with historical SARS-CoV infections. In SARS-CoV-2-infected macaques, virus was excreted from nose and throat in absence of clinical signs, and detected in type I and II pneumocytes in foci of diffuse alveolar damage and mucous glands of the nasal cavity. In SARS-CoV-infection, lung lesions were typically more severe, while they were milder in MERS-CoV infection, where virus was detected mainly in type II pneumocytes. These data show that SARS-CoV-2 can cause a COVID-19-like disease, and suggest that the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection is intermediate between that of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. One Sentence SummarySARS-CoV-2 infection in macaques results in COVID-19-like disease with prolonged virus excretion from nose and throat in absence of clinical signs.

microbiology↗