Abstract
During the four pandemic waves, a total of 560,504 cases and 10,178 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in Croatia. The Alpha variant, dominant from March 2021 (>50% of positive samples), was rapidly replaced by Delta variants (>90%) by August 2021. Several seroprevalence studies were conducted in different populations (general population, children/adolescents, professional athletes, healthcare workers, veterinarians) and in immunocompromised patients (hemodialysis patients, liver/kidney transplant recipients). After the first pandemic wave, seroprevalence rates of neutralizing (NT) antibodies were reported to be 0.2–5.5%. Significantly higher seropositivity was detected during/after the second wave, 2.6–18.7%. Two studies conducted in pet animals (February-June 2020/July–December 2020) reported SARS-CoV-2 NT antibodies in 0.76% of cats and 0.31–14.69% of dogs, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 NT antibodies were not detected in wildlife. Environmental samples taken in the households of COVID-19 patients showed high-touch personal objects as most frequently contaminated (17.3%), followed by surfaces in patients’ rooms (14.6%), kitchens (13.3%) and bathrooms (8.3%). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was also detected in 96.8% affluent water samples, while all effluent water samples tested negative. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, animals and the environment suggests that the ‘One Health’ approach is critical to controlling COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Highlights
The ongoing global epidemic caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2The ongoing global epidemic caused by severe respiratory syndrome (SARS‐CoV‐2)demonstrated the vulnerability of both humans and animalscoronavirus to the threat (SARS-CoV-2)demonstrated the vulnerability of both humans and animals to the threat posed by coronaviruses
During the first pandemic wave (June 2020), professional athletes had significantly higher seroprevalence than the general population tested at the same period (ELISA 11.1% vs. 2.2%; VNT 5.5% vs. 0.2%)
135 volunteer construction workers working on damaged buildings in Zagreb and its surroundings were studied. They were at risk of COVID-19 since they worked directly with the people after social distancing regulations to prevent the spread of coronavirus had been put in place, a low overall seroprevalence rate
Summary
Demonstrated the vulnerability of both humans and animalscoronavirus to the threat (SARS-CoV-2). The role known that SARS-CoV-2 can infect several wild and domestic animals [8,9,10]. Of animals in the epidemiology of COVID‐19 and the influence of SARS‐CoV‐2 on animal the role of animals in the epidemiology of COVID-19 and the influence of SARS-CoV-2 on health have not been fully understood. This article aims to sum up the data on various aspects of SARS‐CoV‐2 epidemiology. This article aims to sum up the data on various aspects of SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology in Croatia. It brings together studies on the SARS‐CoV‐2 prevalence and molecular epide‐.
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