2.2 Chicken Embryo Susceptibility Study
To determine if chicken embryos were susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, chicken embryos were inoculated by different routes commonly used to virus isolation. Six day old chicken embryos were inoculated using the yolk sac route; 9 day old chicken embryos inoculated in the chorionallantoic membrane (CAM) and the allantoic cavity; and 11 day old chicken embryos inoculated by the intravenous route. The embryos were candled twice daily to monitor for mortality. Two successive blind passages were performed and after the 1st and 2nd passages, total RNA was extracted from the amion allantoic fluid (AAF), embryo and CAM and checked for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genomic material using the E-gene specific RT-qPCR.