AUTHOR=McClelland Ryley D. , Lin Yi-Chan James , Culp Tyce N. , Noyce Ryan , Evans David , Hobman Tom C. , Meier-Stephenson Vanessa , Marchant David J. 

TITLE=The domestication of SARS-CoV-2 into a seasonal infection by viral variants

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1289387

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1289387

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=The COVID19 pandemic was caused by the betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged due to adaptation in humans, shifting SARS-CoV2 towards an endemic seasonal virus. We have termed this process 'virus domestication'. We analyzed aggregate COVID-19 data from a publicly funded health care system in Canada and graphed surrogate calculations of COVID-19 disease severity and SARS-CoV2 variant plaque sizes in tissue culture. We observed a decrease in COVID-19 disease severity surrogates after the arrival of the Delta variant, coinciding with significantly smaller plaque sizes. We suggest that SARS-CoV-2 has become more infectious and less virulent through viral domestication.