SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques

Type Journal Article Author Abishek Chandrashekar Author Jinyan Liu Author Amanda J. Martinot Author Katherine McMahan Author Noe B. Mercado Author Lauren Peter Author Lisa H. Tostanoski Author Jingyou Yu Author Zoltan Maliga Author Michael Nekorchuk Author Kathleen Busman-Sahay Author Margaret Terry Author Linda M. Wrijil Author Sarah Ducat Author David R. Martinez Author Caroline Atyeo Author Stephanie Fischinger Author John S. Burke Author Matthew D. Slein Author Laurent Pessaint Author Alex Van Ry Author Jack Greenhouse Author Tammy Taylor Author Kelvin Blade Author Anthony Cook Author Brad Finneyfrock Author Renita Brown Author Elyse Teow Author Jason Velasco Author Roland Zahn Author Frank Wegmann Author Peter Abbink Author Esther A. Bondzie Author Gabriel Dagotto Author Makda S. Gebre Author Xuan He Author Catherine Jacob-Dolan Author Nicole Kordana Author Zhenfeng Li Author Michelle A. Lifton Author Shant H. Mahrokhian Author Lori F. Maxfield Author Ramya Nityanandam Author Joseph P. Nkolola Author Aaron G. Schmidt Author Andrew D. Miller Author Ralph S. Baric Author Galit Alter Author Peter K. Sorger Author Jacob D. Estes Author Hanne Andersen Author Mark G. Lewis Author Dan H. Barouch URL https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/05/19/science.abc4776 Rights Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publication American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) / Science ISSN 0036-8075, 1095-9203 Date 20/05/2020 Extra Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science Section: Research Article PMID: 32434946 DOI 10.1126/science.abc4776 Accessed 2020-07-05 14:12:15 Library Catalog science.sciencemag.org Language en Abstract An understanding of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is critical for vaccine and public health strategies aimed at ending the global COVID-19 pandemic. A key unanswered question is whether infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in protective immunity against re-exposure. We developed a rhesus macaque model of SARS-CoV-2 infection and observed that macaques had high viral loads in the upper and lower respiratory tract, humoral and cellular immune responses, and pathologic evidence of viral pneumonia. Following initial viral clearance, animals were rechallenged with SARS-CoV-2 and showed 5 log10 reductions in median viral loads in bronchoalveolar lavage and nasal mucosa compared with primary infection. Anamnestic immune responses following rechallenge suggested that protection was mediated by immunologic control. These data show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induced protective immunity against re-exposure in nonhuman primates.