RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Systemic infection of SARS-CoV-2 in free ranging Leopard (<em>Panthera pardus fusca</em>) in India
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.11.475327
DO 10.1101/2022.01.11.475327
A1 Sonalika Mahajan
A1 Mathesh Karikalan
A1 Vishal Chander
A1 Abhijit M. Pawde
A1 G Saikumar
A1 M Semmaran
A1 P Sree Lakshmi
A1 Megha Sharma
A1 Sukdeb Nandi
A1 Karam Pal Singh
A1 Vivek Kumar Gupta
A1 Raj Kumar Singh
A1 Gaurav Kumar Sharma
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/12/2022.01.11.475327.abstract
AB We report patho-morphological and virological characterization of SARS-CoV-2 in naturally infected, free ranging Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca). Whole genome sequence analysis confirmed infection of Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, possibly spill over from humans, but the case was detected when infection level had dropped significantly in human population. This report underlines the need for intensive screening of wild animals for keeping track of the virus evolution and development of carrier status of SARS-CoV-2 among wildlife species.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.