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Updated: Jul 12, 2025
Production of Genetically Engineered Golden Syrian Hamsters by Pronuclear Injection of the CRISPR/Cas9 Complex
Published on: January 9, 2018
Design and validation of an exposure system for efficient inter-animal SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission in Syrian
Philip J Kuehl1, Justin Dearing1, Adam Werts1
1Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute , Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Importance:
The main route of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission is airborne. However, there are few experimental systems that can assess the airborne transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in vivo. Here, we designed, built, and characterized a hamster transmission caging and exposure system that allows for efficient SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission in Syrian hamsters without contributions from fomite or direct contact transmission. We successfully measured SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in aerosols and demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted efficiently at either a 1:1 or 1:4 infected index to naïve recipient hamster ratio. This is meaningful as a 1:4 infected index to naïve hamster ratio would allow for simultaneous comparisons of various interventions in naïve animals to determine their susceptibility to infection by aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Our SARS-CoV-2 exposure system allows for testing viral airborne transmission dynamics and transmission-blocking therapeutic strategies against SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian hamsters.
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