US Army receives SARS-CoV-2 sample, grows master stock and created humanised animal models

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. Importantly, both the mice and the hamsters develop clinical signs of disease that are similar to those seen in human patients.”

The Wuhan Institute of Viriolgy used genetically engineered, humanised mice, in their Gain of Function research.

“Large animal models, such as nonhuman primates, or NHPS, are most predictive of human disease. When a vaccine or therapeutic shows promise in a small animal model, the next step is to test it in NHPS, collecting data that can support clinical trials in humans and eventually lead to FDA licensure. USAMRIID has developed two NHP species, the rhesus macaque and the cynomolgus macaque, as models for evaluating medical countermeasures to SARS-CoV-2.”

Read more (surface longevity, aerosolised transmission etc) – PDF