SARS-CoV-2 viral dynamics in non-human primates

Gonçalves, Antonio; Maisonnasse, Pauline; Donati, Flora; Albert, Mélanie; Behillil, Sylvie; Contreras, Vanessa; Naninck, Thibaut; Marlin, Romain; Solas, Caroline; Pizzorno, Andres; Lemaitre, Julien; Kahlaoui, Nidhal; Terrier, Olivier; Ho Tsong Fang, Raphael; Enouf, Vincent; Dereuddre-Bosquet, Nathalie; Brisebarre, Angela; Touret, Franck; Chapon, Catherine; Hoen, Bruno; Lina, Bruno; Rosa Calatrava, Manuel; de Lamballerie, Xavier; Mentré, France; Le Grand, Roger; van der Werf, Sylvie; Guedj, Jérémie

Non-human primates infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibit mild clinical signs. Here we used a mathematical model to characterize in detail the viral dynamics in 31 cynomolgus macaques for which nasopharyngeal and tracheal viral load were frequently assessed. We identified that infected cells had a large burst size (>10(4) virus) and a within-host reproductive basic number of approximately 6 and 4 in nasopharyngeal and tracheal compartment, respectively. After peak viral load, infected cells were rapidly lost with a half-life of 9 hours, with no significant association between cytokine elevation and clearance, leading to a median time to viral clearance of 10 days, consistent with observations in mild human infections. Given these parameter estimates, we predict that a prophylactic treatment blocking 90% of viral production or viral infection could prevent viral growth. In conclusion, our results provide estimates of SARS-CoV-2 viral kinetic parameters in an experimental model of mild infection and they provide means to assess the efficacy of future antiviral treatments.