Abstract
The recent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans from a yet unidentified animal reservoir and the capacity of the virus to naturally infect pets, farmed animals and potentially wild animals has highlighted the need for serological surveillance tools. In this study, the luciferase immunoprecipitation systems (LIPS), employing the spike (S) and nucleocapsid proteins (N) of SARS-CoV-2, was used to examine the suitability of the assay for antibody detection in different animal species. Sera from SARS-CoV-2 naturally-infected mink (n = 77), SARS-CoV-2 experimentally-infected ferrets, fruit bats and hamsters and a rabbit vaccinated with a purified spike protein were examined for antibodies using the SARS-CoV-2 N and/or S proteins. From comparison with the known neutralization status of the serum samples, statistical analyses including calculation of the Spearman rank-order-correlation coefficient and Cohen’s kappa agreement were used to interpret the antibody results and diagnostic performance. The LIPS immunoassay robustly detected the presence of viral antibodies in naturally infected SARS-CoV-2 mink, experimentally infected ferrets, fruit bats and hamsters as well as in an immunized rabbit. For the SARS-CoV-2-LIPS-S assay, there was a good level of discrimination between the positive and negative samples for each of the five species tested with 100% agreement with the virus neutralization results. In contrast, the SARS-CoV-2-LIPS-N assay did not consistently differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative sera. This study demonstrates the suitability of the SARS-CoV-2-LIPS-S assay for the sero-surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a range of animal species.
Highlights
The zoonotic nature of SARS-CoV-2 is generally accepted, its animal reservoir remains unidentified
Sera from ferret, fruit bat, hamster, mink and rabbit were tested by the luciferase immunoprecipitation systems (LIPS)-S assay, while only ferret, hamster and mink sera were tested by the LIPS-N assay due to limited availability of bat sera and the fact that the rabbit was immunized with only the SARS-CoV-2 S antigen [26]
Given the evidence for susceptibility of wild, domestic and farmed animals to infection by SARS-CoV-2 and the public health risks associated with these infections, there is an urgent need for suitable tools for the sero surveillance and monitoring of different animal species
Summary
The zoonotic nature of SARS-CoV-2 is generally accepted, its animal reservoir remains unidentified. Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus spp.) have been reported to harbor the most genetically similar virus to SARS-CoV-2, which is believed to have passed through a second unknown animal host before being transmitted to humans [1,2]. Of additional concern is the potential for recombination events between SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses in the animal host, as has been observed for other coronaviruses [6,7,8,9]. Since its emergence, there have been several reported infections (both natural or experimental) of different animal species with SARS-CoV-2 including dogs, cats, cattle, ferrets, captive gorillas, lions, tigers, pumas, snow leopards, racoon-dogs, bats, white-tailed deer and minks [2,10]
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