Northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina) infected with SARS-CoV-2 show rapid viral clearance and persistent immune response

Song, Tian-Zhang; Zheng, Hong-Yi; Han, Jian-Bao; Feng, Xiao-Li; Liu, Feng-Liang; Yang, Xiang; Jin, Lin; Luo, Rong-Hua; Tian, Ren-Rong; Liu, Chao; Li, Ming-Hua; Cai, Hou-Rong; Zheng, Yong-Tang

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has become an unprecedented global health emergency. At present, SARS-CoV-2-infected nonhuman primates are considered the gold standard animal model for COVID-19 research. Here, we showed that northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina, NPMs) supported SARS-CoV-2 replication. Furthermore, compared with rhesus macaques, NPMs showed rapid viral clearance in lung tissues, nose swabs, throat swabs, and rectal swabs, which may be due to higher expression of interferon (IFN)-α in lung tissue. However, the rapid viral clearance was not associated with good outcome. In the second week post infection, NPMs developed persistent or even more severe inflammation and body injury compared with rhesus macaques. These results suggest that viral clearance may have no relationship with COVID-19 progression and SARS-CoV-2-infected NPMs could be considered as a critically ill animal model in COVID-19 research.