Japanese Research Team Successfully Conducts COVID-19 Virus Injection Experiment on Monkeys

First Successful Case of COVID-19 Reproduction Experiment on Primates in Japan

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A Japanese research team conducted an experiment infecting monkeys, primates similar to humans, with the novel coronavirus to reproduce symptoms.

According to the Mainichi Shimbun on the 30th, a research team led by Professor Itou Yasushi of the Department of Pathology at Shiga Medical University injected a liquid mixed with the novel coronavirus into the noses and mouths of three Philippine monkeys in May and June, then observed the symptoms.

As a result, all three monkeys showed fever symptoms the next day, and one monkey was confirmed to have pneumonia symptoms through an X-ray examination. However, all three had mild symptoms and recovered after 10 days.

The virus was detected in the bodies of the three monkeys for one week after infection, and neutralizing antibodies that act to defend against infection were detected in the blood of one monkey.

This is the first successful experiment in Japan to reproduce COVID-19 in primates, and since monkeys show similar reactions to humans, the Mainichi Shimbun reported that this will help in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The research team applied for a patent on the COVID-19 culturing method used in this experiment on the 27th. Additionally, starting in September, the team plans to conduct further experiments administering a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science to monkeys to verify its efficacy and other factors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.