MERS-CoV strains, including EMC and London strains, reportedly do not replicate in the respiratory tract of various strains of mice, including BALB/c, C57BL/6, and STAT 1-/-, or in aged (12- to 14-months old) BALB/c mice, or in 5-weeks-old golden Syrian hamsters or in ferrets. The receptor for the virus has been identified as a dipeptidyl peptidase 4. We are evaluating the ability of MERS-CoV to infect and replicate in rabbits, in order to develop a model that can be used to study the pathogenesis and immune response to the novel coronavirus. It is not known whether the novel coronavirus can replicate and cause disease in this species.
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