Fig. 2: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in golden hamsters by direct contact.

a, Infectious viral load (log₁₀(TCID₅₀ per ml), shown as bars) and viral RNA copy numbers (log₁₀(RNA copies per ml), shown as dots) detected in the nasal washes of donor hamsters (n = 3) inoculated with 8 × 10⁴ TCID₅₀ of SARS-CoV-2. Colour-matched bars and dots represent results from the same hamster. b, Changes in body weight (per cent weight change compared to day 0) of hamsters inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 (n = 9, including 3 donors and 9 hamsters challenged with SARS-CoV-2, described in Fig. 1); individual data points and mean ± s.d. are shown. c, Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to naive hamsters (n = 3), each of which was cohoused with one inoculated donor at 1 dpi; infectious viral load and viral RNA copy numbers detected in the nasal washes of contact hamsters are shown. d, Changes in body weight (per cent weight change compared to the day of exposure) of contact hamsters (n = 3) cohoused with inoculated donor at 1 dpi. e, Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to naive hamsters (n = 3), each of which was cohoused with one donor at 6 dpi; infectious viral load and viral RNA copy numbers detected in the nasal washes of contact hamsters are shown. f, Changes in body weight (per cent weight change compared to the day of exposure) of contact hamsters (n = 3) cohoused with inoculated donors at 6 dpi. Direct-contact transmission experiments of cohoused donors and naive contacts at 1 dpi and 6 dpi (of the donor), respectively, were each performed once, each with three pairs of donor:direct contact at 1:1 ratio.