Abstract
Simple SummaryDifferent species can harbor coronavirus, including domestic and wild animals. The Coroviridae family is composed of four genera, including Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus. Some domestic animals are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 in natural and experimental infections. The infection of animals is generally a consequence of close contact with COVID-19 patients. Among domestic animals, SARS-CoV-2 replicates in respiratory ex vivo organ cultures of domestic ruminants. In this context, there is no information about the role sheep can play in the spread of the infection. This study tested the antibody response in 90 serum samples from sheep from the pre-pandemic period and 336 serum samples from sheep from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed were seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first serosurvey in sheep to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Future investigations should analyze the epidemiological role of sheep in SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the prevalence of infection.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has caused a pandemic situation with millions of infected humans worldwide. Among domestic animals, there have been limited studies regarding the transmissibility and exposure to the infection in natural conditions. Some animals are exposed and/or susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as cats, ferrets and dogs. By contrast, there is no information about the susceptibility of ruminants to SARS-CoV-2. This study tested the antibody response in 90 ovine pre-pandemic serum samples and 336 sheep serum samples from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed was seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. Our results suggest that it seems unlikely that sheep could play a relevant role in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is the first study to report the absence of evidence of sheep exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in natural conditions.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which has infected millions of humans worldwide
The absence of exposure in all sheep despite close contact with the humans of this study probably indicates that sheep are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection
In order to evaluate animal susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, predictive analyses of the binding potential of SARS-CoV-2 with the ACE2 receptor could be performed including in vitro and in silico analyses. Another type of evaluation can be based either on experimental infections of SARS-CoV-2, or field studies based on observations in natural conditions
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which has infected millions of humans worldwide. This is a novel coronavirus that emerged towards the end of 2019. Numerous domestic and pet animals that regularly come into close contact with humans may be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Animal infection associated with SARS-CoV-2 has been described in both natural conditions and experimental infections, including dogs, ferrets, cats, lions and minks, among others [1]. Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the absence of clinical signs has been recently described in Spain in stray cats [2] and household ferrets [3]
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