RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Evidence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in wild mustelids from Brittany (France)
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.20.477038
DO 10.1101/2022.01.20.477038
A1 Bernard Davoust
A1 Patrick Guérin
A1 Nicolas Orain
A1 Camille Fligny
A1 Fabien Flirden
A1 Florence Fenollar
A1 Oleg Mediannikov
A1 Sophie Edouard
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/20/2022.01.20.477038.abstract
AB In the French region of Brittany, mainly in the department of the Côtes d’Armor, during the first semester of 2021, seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 was detected in five wild mustelids out of 32 animals tested. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG against at least four out of five recombinant viral proteins (S1 receptor binding domain, nucleocapsid, S1 subunit, S2 subunit and spike) were detected using automated western blot technique in three martens (Martes martes) and two badgers (Meles meles). An ELISA test also objectified seropositivities. Although the 171 qPCRs carried out on samples from the 33 mustelids were all negative, these preliminary results (observational study) nevertheless bear witness to infections of unknown origin. The epidemiological surveillance of Covid-19 in wildlife must continue, in particular with the tools of efficient serology.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.