Infection and rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets

SARS-CoV-2 can experimentally infect ferrets, which were revealed by the appearance of mild clinical symptoms such as cough or fever. No fatality was observed in this infection model. Viral RNA was detected mainly in the upper respiratory tracts, but that in lung was lower. The ferret-ferret transmission via a direct and indirect contacts was confirmed at high and low frequency respectively.  SARS-CoV-2 was detected not only in serum, nasal washes, saliva, but also in urine and fecal, which has been sometimes observed in human patients.