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Ecohealth
. 2021 Nov 29.
doi: 10.1007/s10393-021-01569-1. Online ahead of print.
No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Neotropical Primates Sampled During COVID-19 Pandemic in Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Filipe Vieira Santos de Abreu 1 , Mariana Viana Macedo 2 , Alex Junio Jardim da Silva 1 , Cirilo Henrique de Oliveira 1 , Vinícius Oliveira de Ottone 2 , Marco Antônio Barreto de Almeida 3 , Edmilson Dos Santos 3 , Jader Cruz da Cardoso 3 , Aline Scarpellini Campos 3 , Claudia Maria Dornelles da Silva 3 , Amanda Gonzales da Silva 3 , Miguel Souza de Andrade 4 , Valéria Magro Octaviano Bernis 1 , Walter Octaviano Bernis Filho 1 , Giliane Souza de Trindade 5 , George Rego Albuquerque 6 , Anaiá Paixão da Sevá 6 , Bergmann Morais Ribeiro 4 , Danilo Simonini Teixeira 6 , Fabrício Souza Campos 7 , Ana Cláudia Franco 8 , Paulo Michel Roehe 8 , Danilo Bretas de Oliveira 9
Affiliations
- PMID: 34843021
- DOI: 10.1007/s10393-021-01569-1
Abstract
In 2019, a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was detected in China. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was capable to infect domestic and captive mammals like cats, tigers and minks. Due to genetic similarities, concern about the infection of non-human primates (NHPs) and the establishment of a sylvatic cycle has grown in the Americas. In this study, neotropical primates (NP) were sampled in different areas from Brazil to investigate whether they were infected by SARS-CoV-2. A total of 89 samples from 51 NP of four species were examined. No positive samples were detected via RT-qPCR, regardless of the NHP species, tissue or habitat tested. This work provides the first report on the lack of evidence of the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in NP. The expansion of wild animals sampling is necessary to understand their role in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and other potentially zoonotic pathogens in natural environments shared by humans.
Keywords: Alouatta; Callithrix; Coronavirus; nonhuman-primate; spillback; spillover.