The B.1.427/1.429 (epsilon) SARS-CoV-2 variants are more virulent than ancestral B.1 (614G) in Syrian hamsters
T. Carroll, D. Fox, N. van Doremalen, E. Ball, M. K. Morris, A. Sotomayor-Gonzalez, V. Servellita, A. Rustagi, C. K. Yinda, L. Fritts, J. R. Port, Z.-M. Ma, M. Holbrook, J. Schulz, C. A. Blish, , C. J. Miller
This study shows that the B.1.427/1.429 (epsilon) SARS-CoV-2 variants cause more severe disease and higher viral loads in the upper respiratory tract in Syrian hamsters compared to the ancestral B.1 (614G) strain.
bioRxiv · Aug 25, 2021Microbiology