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Vet Q
. 2023 Jan 3;1-17.
doi: 10.1080/01652176.2023.2164909. Online ahead of print.
Molecular surveillance of potential SARS-CoV-2 reservoir hosts in wildlife rehabilitation centers
Juan Mena 1 , Christian Hidalgo 2 , Daniela Estay-Olea 1 , Nicole Sallaberry-Pincheira 3 , Antonella Bacigalupo 4 , André V Rubio 5 , Diego Peñaloza 6 , Carolina Sánchez 3 , Javiera Gómez-Adaros 7 , Valeria Olmos 7 , Javier Cabello 8 , Kendra Ivelic 9 , María José Abarca 10 , Diego Ramírez-Álvarez 11 , Marisol Torregrosa Rocabado 12 , Natalia Durán Castro 13 , Martina Carreño 14 , Gabriela Gómez 15 , Pedro E Cattan 5 , Galia Ramírez-Toloza 16 , Sofía Robbiano 17 , Carla Marchese 18 , Eduardo Raffo 18 , Paulina Stowhas 19 , Gonzalo Medina-Vogel 20 , Carlos Landaeta-Aqueveque 21 , René Ortega 21 , Etienne Waleckx 22 23 , Daniel Gónzalez-Acuña 24 , Gemma Rojo 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 36594266
- DOI: 10.1080/01652176.2023.2164909
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, has become the most devastating zoonotic event in recent times, with negative impacts on both human and animal welfare as well as on the global economy. Although SARS-CoV-2 is considered a human virus, it likely emerged from animals, and it can infect both domestic and wild animals. This constitutes a risk for human and animal health including wildlife with evidence of SARS-CoV-2 horizontal transmission back and forth between humans and wild animals.
Aim: Molecular surveillance in different wildlife rehabilitation centers and wildlife associated institutions in Chile, which are critical points of animal-human interaction and wildlife conservation, especially since the aim of wildlife rehabilitation centers is to reintroduce animals to their original habitat.
Materials and methods: The survey was conducted in six WRCs and three wildlife associated institutions. A total of 185 samples were obtained from 83 individuals belonging to 15 different species, including vulnerable and endangered species. Each specimen was sampled with two different swabs: one oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal according to the nostril diameter, and/or a second rectal sample. RNA was extracted from the samples and two different molecular assays were performed: first, a conventional RT-PCR with pan-coronavirus primers and a second SARS-CoV-2 qPCR targeting the N and S genes.
Results: All 185 samples were negative for SARS-CoV-2.
Keywords: COVID-19; Chile; SARS-CoV-2; wildlife conservation; wildlife rehabilitation centers