You are presented with a paragraph from a COVID-19 literature. Classify the topics of this piece of text by choosing from the following categories:

- Epidemic Forecasting: The content relates to predictions about the spread of COVID-19.
- Treatment: The paragraph discusses therapeutic methods or medication for COVID-19.
- Prevention: The content covers measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- Mechanism: The paragraph explains the biological mechanisms of the virus.
- Case Report: The content is a report of a COVID-19 case.
- Transmission: The paragraph discusses how COVID-19 is transmitted.
- Diagnosis: The content is about diagnosing COVID-19 in individuals.

Your classification should be provided as an element within a JSON array. The array should be formatted with topics enclosed in double quotes and separated by commas, following the JSON format, for example: ["Topic1", "Topic2", ...]. Include all applicable topics within the array. Your output should be a valid JSON array, and no additional text should be included in your response.

Article:

Epidemiological studies have revealed the emergence of multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOC), including the lineage B.1.1.7 that is rapidly replacing old variants. The B.1.1.7 variant has been linked to increased morbidity rates, transmissibility, and potentially mortality. To assess viral fitness in vivo and to address whether the B.1.1.7 variant is capable of immune escape, we conducted infection and reinfection studies in naive and convalescent Syrian hamsters (>10 months old). Nasal wash samples from hamsters infected by a B.1.1.7 variant exhibited slightly higher viral RNA levels but lower infectious titers than those from B.1 (G614) variant-infected hamsters, and the two variants induced comparable lung pathologies in hamsters. Despite a sporadic and transient low-level infection in the nasal cavity, convalescent hamsters that had recovered from a previous USA-WA1 isolate (D614) infection displayed no observable clinical signs or lung pathology following B.1.1.7 rechallenge. Altogether, our study did not find that the B.1.1.7 variant significantly differs from the B.1 variant in pathogenicity in Syrian hamsters and that a heterologous natural infection-induced immunity confers protection against a secondary challenge by the B1.1.7 variant. IMPORTANCE The rapid emergence of several variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 calls for evaluations of viral fitness and pathogenicity in animal models in order to understand the mechanism of enhanced transmission and the possible increases in morbidity and mortality rates. Here, we demonstrated that immunity naturally acquired through a prior infection with the first-wave variant does confer nearly complete protection against the B.1.1.7 variant in Syrian hamsters upon reexposure. Strikingly, although the B.1.1.7 variant appears to replicate to a higher level in the nose than the ancestral B.1 variant, it does not induce more severe lung pathology in hamsters.
["Mechanism", "Transmission"]