Permissiveness of American bison to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2

The COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the most significant public health events of the last century. As with other coronaviruses (SARS, MERS) the role of animals is of intense interest. Believed to have originated in bats, the role of other animals in the epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is still unclear, as is the range of susceptible hosts. American bison were intranasally infected with SARS-CoV-2 and monitored for seroconversion and the presence of viral RNA in oronasal secretions and feces. Although clinical signs were not seen, permissiveness of bison to infection with SARS-CoV-2 was manifest by seroconversion, the presence of viral RNA in oronasal secretions, persistence of viral RNA in lymphoid tissue, and viral associated interstitial pneumonia. Retrospective sequencing of the inoculum revealed a common in vitro adaptation in the furin cleavage site of the spike protein that may have reduced in vivo viral fitness. As such, we cannot exclude the possibility that use of an isolate with an intact furin cleavage motif would more efficiently infect bison.