Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40256039›Full record

ArticleOpen forum infectious diseases2025

Human Source Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Aerosol Transmission to Remote Sentinel Hamsters.

Chad J Roy, Michael R Barer, Veronica Ueckermann, Brandon Beddingfield, David Cordier, Bernard Fourie, Richard Vincent, Sego Dibobo, Toby VanReenen, Paul Jensen and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Open forum infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Chad J RoyCenter for Airborne Infection and Transmission Science, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1710-6974
Michael R BarerDepartment of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0377-3100
Veronica UeckermannAirborne Infections Research Facility, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Brandon BeddingfieldCenter for Airborne Infection and Transmission Science, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9438-1304
David CordierAirborne Infections Research Facility, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Bernard FourieAirborne Infections Research Facility, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Richard VincentDepartment of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Sego DiboboAirborne Infections Research Facility, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Toby VanReenenAirborne Infections Research Facility, Departments of Internal Medicine and Medical Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Paul JensenFinal Approach, Inc, Port Orange, Florida, USA.
Oliva De KockRetrasol Training Solutions, Pretoria, South Africa.
Elsabe De KockRetrasol Training Solutions, Pretoria, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3161-1540
Edward NardellDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Funding

Tulane NPRC SPF Sheltered Outdoor Enclosure ExpansionP51OD011104 · OD · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · PI L Lee HAMM · 2012 to 2026
$142.4M
NIH HHS P51 OD011104
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Bioaerosol-mediated transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) via building ventilation systems has yet to be convincingly demonstrated. We used the South African Airborne Infections Research (AIR) facility near Pretoria to study human-to-animal (H2A) transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in newly diagnosed patients. While the facility was built to study tuberculosis transmission, this was its first adaptation to study H2A virus transmission. Methods: Patients with clinically confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 were housed for up to 4 days in in the AIR facility with continuously exhausting patient ward air to hamsters housed in animal exposure rooms. After a 3-week exposure period, animals were held for an additional week to allow for antibody development. Animal sera were analyzed for anti-spike and plaque reduction activities and lung samples for pathology. Results: Seven patients provided ≥400 in-residence hours over a 17-day period. Pair-housed naive golden Syrian hamsters (n = 216) received continuous exposure to mixed patient ward exhaust. Serum analyses revealed anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G in 58% of animals tested. Plaque reduction assays on 7 high-titer serum samples revealed neutralizing activity. Conclusions: These results support the concept that viral bioaerosols generated from patients remain infectious over long-distance transport through a building ventilation system. The seroconversion among sentinel animals supports the long-held belief that airborne infections manifest as a stochastic rather than deterministic event that is subject to a threshold dose effect. Further confirmatory studies are necessary to characterize the relationship between the bioaerosol delivered and the infections that result in this controlled H2A transmission model.

Indexed as

COVID-19hamsterinfectious aerosolsinfectious disease aerobiologyrespiratory transmission

Identifiers

PMID40256039
PMCPMC12006787

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.