AUTHOR=Melamed Sharon , Politi Boaz , Grauer Ettie , Achdout Hagit , Aftalion Moshe , Gur David , Tamir Hadas , Yahalom-Ronen Yfat , Maimon Shlomy , Yitzhak Efi , Weiss Shay , Rosner Amir , Erez Noam , Yitzhaki Shmuel , Shapira Shmuel C , Paran Nir , Mamroud Emanuelle , Vagima Yaron , Israely Tomer 

TITLE=Monitoring Group Activity of Hamsters and Mice as a Novel Tool to Evaluate COVID-19 Progression, Convalescence, and rVSV-ΔG-Spike Vaccination Efficacy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2021.737627

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2021.737627

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=COVID-19 pandemic initiated a worldwide race toward the development of treatments and
vaccines. Small animal models were the Syrian golden hamster and the K18-hACE2 mice
infected with SARS-CoV-2 to display a disease state with some aspects of the human COVID-
19. Group activity of animals in their home cage continuously monitored by the HCMS100 was
used as a sensitive marker of disease, successfully detecting morbidity symptoms of SARSCoV-2 infection in hamsters and in K18-hACE2 mice. COVID-19 convalescent hamsters rechallenged with SARS-CoV-2, exhibited minor reduction in group activity compared to naive
hamsters. To evaluate rVSV-ΔG-spike vaccination efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, we used the
HCMS100 to monitor group activity of hamsters in their home cage. Single-dose rVSV-ΔGspike vaccination of immunized group showed a faster recovery compared to the nonimmunized infected hamsters, substantiating the efficacy of rVSV-ΔG-spike vaccine.
HCMS100 offers non-intrusive, hands-free monitoring of a number of home cages of hamsters
or mice modeling COVID-19.