TY - JOUR T1 - SARS-CoV-2 infection induces protective immunity and limits transmission in Syrian hamsters JF - Life Science Alliance JO - Life Sci. Alliance DO - 10.26508/lsa.202000886 VL - 4 IS - 4 SP - e202000886 AU - Prabhuanand Selvaraj AU - Christopher Z Lien AU - Shufeng Liu AU - Charles B Stauft AU - Ivette A Nunez AU - Mario Hernandez AU - Eric Nimako AU - Mario A Ortega AU - Matthew F Starost AU - John U Dennis AU - Tony T Wang Y1 - 2021/04/01 UR - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/4/e202000886.abstract N2 - A critical question in understanding the immunity to SARS-COV-2 is whether recovered patients are protected against re-challenge and transmission upon second exposure. We developed a Syrian hamster model in which intranasal inoculation of just 100 TCID50 virus caused viral pneumonia. Aged hamsters developed more severe disease and even succumbed to SARS-CoV-2 infection, representing the first lethal model using genetically unmodified laboratory animals. After initial viral clearance, the hamsters were re-challenged with 105 TCID50 SARS-CoV-2 and displayed more than 4 log reduction in median viral loads in both nasal washes and lungs in comparison to primary infections. Most importantly, re-challenged hamsters were unable to transmit virus to naïve hamsters, and this was accompanied by the presence of neutralizing antibodies. Altogether, these results show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces protective immunity that not only prevents re-exposure but also limits transmission in hamsters. These findings may help guide public health policies and vaccine development and aid evaluation of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. ER -