Absence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Natural Environment Exposure in Sheep in Close Contact with Humans

Animals

Llipsy Santiago¹  Julián Pardo²  Juan José Ramos³  Luis Miguel Ferrer³  Sergio Villanueva-Saz³  Marta Ruiz de Arcaute³  Diana Marteles³  Héctor Ruíz³  Jacobo Giner³  Antonio Fernández³  Maite Verde³  Delia Lacasta³  Aurora Ortín³  José Ramón Paño-Pardo⁴  Erandi Lira-Navarrete⁵  Víctor Taleb⁵  Ana García-García⁵  Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero⁵  Javier Macías-León⁵  Andrés Manuel González-Ramírez⁵  Ana Pilar Tobajas⁶  María Dolores Pérez⁶ 

[1] Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain;Aragon I+D Foundation (ARAID), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain;Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain;Infectious Disease Department, University Hospital Lozano Blesa, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain;Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain;Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain;

关键词: coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19);    ELISA;    SARS-CoV-2;    serology;    sheep;    ruminants;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani11071984

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown