Age-dependent pathogenic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ferrets

While the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in healthy people does not differ significantly among age groups, those aged 65 years or older exhibit strikingly higher COVID-19 mortality compared to younger individuals. To further understand differing COVID-19 manifestations in patients of different ages, three age groups of ferrets were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Although SARS-CoV-2 was isolated from all ferrets regardless of age, aged ferrets (≥ 3 years old) showed higher viral loads, longer nasal virus shedding, and more severe lung inflammatory cell infiltration and clinical symptoms compared to juvenile (≤ 6 months) and young adult (1–2 years) groups. Transcriptome analysis of aged ferret lungs revealed strong enrichment of gene sets related to type I interferon, activated T cells, and M1 macrophage responses, mimicking the gene expression profile of severe COVID-19 patients. Thus, SARS-CoV-2-infected aged ferrets highly recapitulate COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms and are useful for understanding age-associated infection, transmission, and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.