Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.75 clinical isolates
Authors:
Preprint
Abstract
The prevalence of the Omicron subvariant BA.2.75 is rapidly increasing in India and Nepal. In addition, BA.2.75 has been detected in at least 34 other countries and is spreading globally. However, the virological features of BA.2.75 are largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the replicative ability and pathogenicity of BA.2.75 clinical isolates in Syrian hamsters. Although we found no substantial differences in weight change among hamsters infected with BA.2, BA.5, or BA.2.75, the replicative ability of BA.2.75 in the lungs was higher than that of BA.2 and BA.5. Of note, BA.2.75 caused focal viral pneumonia in hamsters, characterized by patchy inflammation interspersed in alveolar regions, which was not observed in BA.5-infected hamsters. Moreover, in competition assays, BA.2.75 replicated better than BA.5 in the lungs of hamsters. These results suggest that BA.2.75 can cause more severe respiratory disease than BA.5 and BA.2 and should be closely monitored.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- SARS-CoV-2 infects cells after viral entry via clathrin-mediated endocytosisJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2021
- Disentangling primer interactions improves SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing by multiplex tiling PCRPLOS ONE, 2020
- Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence that D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 VirusCell, 2020
- Syrian hamsters as a small animal model for SARS-CoV-2 infection and countermeasure developmentProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020
- Pathogenesis and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in golden hamstersNature, 2020
- SARS-CoV-2 Cell Entry Depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and Is Blocked by a Clinically Proven Protease InhibitorCell, 2020
- Simulation of the Clinical and Pathological Manifestations of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a Golden Syrian Hamster Model: Implications for Disease Pathogenesis and TransmissibilityClinical Infectious Diseases, 2020
- Enhanced isolation of SARS-CoV-2 by TMPRSS2-expressing cellsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020
- Data, disease and diplomacy: GISAID's innovative contribution to global healthGlobal Challenges, 2017
- Clathrin-Dependent Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus into Target Cells Expressing ACE2 with the Cytoplasmic Tail DeletedJournal of Virology, 2007