Figure 1.

Temperature Changes, Weight Loss, Survival, Viral Shedding, and Immunohistochemistry of Tissues of NMC-nCoV02-Infected Ferrets

(A–C) Six ferrets were inoculated intranasally with 10^5.5 TCID₅₀ of virus. (A) Temperature changes, (B) number of viral RNA copies, and (C) infectious virus titers were measured in tissues of NMC-nCoV02-infected ferrets (n = 6/group). Each tissue (n = 3 per group) was collected at 4, 8, and 12 dpi. Viral loads in nasal turbinate, trachea, lung, kidney, and intestine were titered using quantitative real-time PCR and TCID₅₀. Data are presented as mean ± SEM.

(D) Serum neutralizing (SN) antibody titers (GMT) against NMC-nCoV02 (100 TCID₅₀) were measured onto Vero cells after 12 days of experiment (n = 6 per group). Data are presented as geometric mean ± SD. Tissues were harvested on day 4 after inoculation and immunohistochemistry was performed with a mouse polyclonal antibody.

(E–H) Tissues of PBS control ferrets; (E) nasal turbinate, (F) trachea, (G) lung, and (H) intestine.

(I–L) Tissues of NMC-nCoV02 infected ferrets: (I) Nasal turbinate, (J) Trachea, (K) lung, and (L) Intestine.

The presence of NMC-nCoV02 antigen was determined by IHC with mouse polyclonal antibody. Magnification ×400. Asterisks indicate statistical significance compared with PBS control group by the two-way ANOVA with Sidaks multiple comparisons test (A), the two way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test (B and C), or one-way ANOVA Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test (^∗ indicates p < 0.05, ^∗∗ indicates p < 0.001, and ^∗∗∗ indicates p < 0.0001).