Fig. 2: The infectivity and pathogenicity of BA.2.75 in wild-type hamsters.

a, b Wild-type Syrian hamsters were intranasally inoculated with 10⁵ PFU in 30 μL of BA.2 (NCD1288) (n = 9), BA.5 (TY41-702) (n = 9), BA.2.75 (TY41-716) (n = 5), BA.2.75 (NCD1757) (n = 5), BA.2.75 (NCD1759) (n = 5), B.1.617.2 (UW5250) (n = 9), or PBS (mock) (n = 8). a Body weights of virus-infected and mock-infected hamsters were monitored daily for 10 days. Data are presented as the mean percentages of the starting weight (±s.e.m.). b Pulmonary function analyses in virus-infected and mock-infected hamsters. Penh and Rpef were measured by using whole-body plethysmography. Mean ± s.e.m. Data were analyzed by using a two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. c Virus replication in infected Syrian hamsters. Hamsters (n = 10) were intranasally inoculated with 10⁵ PFU in 30 μL of BA.2 (NCD1288), BA.5 (TY41-702), BA.2.75 (TY41-716), BA.2.75 (NCD1757), or B.1.617.2 (UW5250) and euthanized at 3 and 6 dpi for virus titration (n = 5/day). Virus titers in the nasal turbinates and lungs were determined by performing plaque assays with Vero E6-TMPRSS2-T2A-ACE2 cells. Vertical bars show the mean ± s.e.m. Points indicate data from individual hamsters. The lower limit of detection is indicated by the horizontal dashed line. Data were analyzed by using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (titers in the lungs at 3 dpi and nasal turbinates at 3 and 6 dpi) or the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test (titers in the lungs at 6 dpi). P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Data are from one experiment.