Ferret Study Reinforces Role of Aerosols in SARS-CoV-2 Spread

Using an elaborate apparatus, researchers find that the virus spreads via aerosolized particles between ferrets more than a meter apart.

Written byMax Kozlov

| 4 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

4:00

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM
JHAYES44

As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, researchers have hotly debated the primary method of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—via relatively large respiratory droplets, which fall quickly to the floor under their own weight, or smaller aerosolized droplets capable of circulating in the air for long periods of time. A study posted to the preprint server bioRxiv last week (October 19) adds yet more evidence that infectious virus can be spread via aerosolized droplets.

“If I were someone who thought that large droplets were the way [that SARS-CoV-2 was transmitted] and if I were skeptical about aerosols, this study might make me rethink my assumptions,” says Virginia Tech engineer Linsey Marr, who studies how viruses spread through aerosols and was not involved in the study.

It’s another brick in the edifice of evidence for long-range aerosol transmission.

Although observational data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 spreads between people at short ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Max Kozlov
Max is a science journalist from Boston. Though he studied cognitive neuroscience, he now prefers to write about brains rather than research them. Prior to writing for The Scientist as an editorial intern in late 2020 and early 2021, Max worked at the Museum of Science in Boston, where his favorite part of the job was dressing in a giant bee costume and teaching children about honeybees. He was also a AAAS Mass Media Fellow, where he worked as a science reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Read more of his work at www.maxkozlov.com.
View Full Profile