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.