FLI SARS CoV-2 Research

COVID-19: Experimental infection of fruit bats, ferrets, pigs and chicken
with SARS-CoV-2 at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Recent work at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) in Germany reviewed SARS-CoV-2, a recently emerged zoonotic pathogen. Researchers examined susceptibility of fruit bats, ferrets, pigs, and chickens. In the report summary, FLI reported pigs and chickens could not be productively infected by SARS-CoV-2 under the experimental conditions used in their work. The study also shows virus replication in ferrets resembles the situation of a mild human infection. Consequently, ferrets might serve as a useful model for further studies.