Communications Biology (Sep 2021)
Low dose inocula of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant transmits more efficiently than earlier variants in hamsters
- Bobo Wing-Yee Mok,
- Honglian Liu,
- Shaofeng Deng,
- Jiayan Liu,
- Anna Jinxia Zhang,
- Siu-Ying Lau,
- Siwen Liu,
- Rachel Chun-Yee Tam,
- Conor J. Cremin,
- Timothy Ting-Leung Ng,
- Jake Siu-Lun Leung,
- Lam-Kwong Lee,
- Pui Wang,
- Kelvin Kai-Wang To,
- Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan,
- Kwok-Hung Chan,
- Kwok-Yung Yuen,
- Gilman Kit-Hang Siu,
- Honglin Chen
Affiliations
- Bobo Wing-Yee Mok
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Honglian Liu
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Shaofeng Deng
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Jiayan Liu
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Anna Jinxia Zhang
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Siu-Ying Lau
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Siwen Liu
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Rachel Chun-Yee Tam
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Conor J. Cremin
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Timothy Ting-Leung Ng
- Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Jake Siu-Lun Leung
- Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Lam-Kwong Lee
- Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Pui Wang
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Kelvin Kai-Wang To
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Kwok-Hung Chan
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Kwok-Yung Yuen
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- Gilman Kit-Hang Siu
- Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Honglin Chen
- Department of Microbiology and State Key Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02640-x
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 4,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 8
Abstract
Bobo Wing-Yee Mok et al. observe that the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant of SARS-CoV-2 exhibits increased competitive fitness over earlier lineages at lower doses in a hamster model of viral transmission. Their results suggest that the Alpha variant’s ability to initiate effective infection with a low dose may underlie its ability to rapidly transmit throughout a population.
