The 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak is a major challenge for public health. SARS-CoV-2 infection in human has a broad clinical spectrum ranging from mild to severe cases, with a mortality rate of ~6.4% worldwide (based on World Health Organization daily situation report). However, the dynamics of viral infection, replication and shedding are poorly understood. Here, we show that Rhesus macaques are susceptible to the infection by SARS-CoV-2. After intratracheal inoculation, the first peak of viral RNA was observed in oropharyngeal swabs one day post infection (1 d.p.i.), mainly from the input of the inoculation, while the second peak occurred at 5 d.p.i., which reflected on-site replication in the respiratory tract. Histopathological observation shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause interstitial pneumonia in animals, characterized by hyperemia and edema, and infiltration of monocytes and lymphocytes in alveoli. We also identified SARS-CoV-2 RNA in respiratory tract tissues, including trachea, bronchus and lung; and viruses were also re-isolated from oropharyngeal swabs, bronchus and lung, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated that neutralizing antibodies generated from the primary infection could protect the Rhesus macaques from a second-round challenge by SARS-CoV-2. The non-human primate model that we established here provides a valuable platform to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and to evaluate candidate vaccines and therapeutics.

2019年新颖的冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）爆发是公共卫生的重大挑战。人类的SARS-CoV-2感染具有从轻度到重度的广泛临床范围，全世界的死亡率约为6.4％（根据世界卫生组织的每日情况报告）。但是，对病毒感染，复制和脱落的动力学了解甚少。在这里，我们显示猕猴易受SARS-CoV-2感染。气管内接种后，感染后一天（1 dpi），口咽拭子中观察到病毒RNA的第一个峰，主要是从接种的输入开始，而第二个峰出现在5 dpi，反映了呼吸道的现场复制。道。组织病理学观察表明，SARS-CoV-2感染可引起动物间质性肺炎，其特征在于充血和水肿，以及肺泡中单核细胞和淋巴细胞的浸润。我们还在呼吸道组织（包括气管，支气管和肺）中鉴定出SARS-CoV-2 RNA。病毒也分别从口咽拭子，支气管和肺中分离出来。此外，我们证明了原发感染产生的中和抗体可以保护来自SARS-CoV-2的第二轮挑战的恒河猴。我们在这里建立的非人类灵长类动物模型提供了一个有价值的平台，可用于研究SARS-CoV-2的发病机理以及评估候选疫苗和治疗剂。