In February 2020, U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) scientists at Fort Detrick, received a sample of SARS-CoV-2 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)." It came from a patient in Washington State, one of the first COVID-19 cases identified in the United States." [1] USAMRIID first grew the virus and prepared a master stock used in "testing diagnostics, vaccines and treatments." They then "turned their attention to developing animal models that represent the disease course of COVID-19 in humans. Animal model development is essential to the process of getting a medical product licensed for human use, and it is one of USAMRIID’s core capabilities" "Small animal models, like, rodents allow for early investigation of the disease process and preliminary testing of potential vaccines and treatments. This work builds the foundation for additional studies and helps to determine which products should advance for further testing" "USAMRIID has developed two small animal models, the ACE2 mouse and the Syrian hamster...[The] ACE2 mice have the same receptor used by SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells, making them a suitable model of infection, and Syrian hamsters appear to show signs of developing protective immunity when re-exposed to the virus...
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