No detection of SARS-CoV-2 in animals exposed to infected keepers: results of a COVID-19 surveillance program

Pellegrino Cerino; Carlo Buonerba; Gianfranco Brambilla; Luigi Atripaldi; Maria Tafuro; Denise Di Concilio; Lucia Vassallo; Gabriella Lo Conte; Maria Concetta Cuomo; Ivana Maiello; Jacopo D'Auria; Davide Cardinale; Maurizio Viscardi; Giuseppe Rofrano; Alfonso Gallo; Pasquale Brusco; Antonio Pizzolante; Vittorio Cicalese; Pio Galdi; Lydia Galdi; Sabato De Vita; Palmiero Volzone; Gabriele Di Vuolo; Annachiara Coppola; Biancamaria Pierri; Giovanna Fusco

doi:10.2144/fsoa-2021-0038

No detection of SARS-CoV-2 in animals exposed to infected keepers: results of a COVID-19 surveillance program

Future Sci OA. 2021 Apr 20;7(7):FSO711. doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2021-0038. eCollection 2021 Aug.

Authors

Pellegrino Cerino¹, Carlo Buonerba¹, Gianfranco Brambilla², Luigi Atripaldi³, Maria Tafuro¹, Denise Di Concilio¹, Lucia Vassallo¹, Gabriella Lo Conte¹, Maria Concetta Cuomo¹, Ivana Maiello¹, Jacopo D'Auria¹, Davide Cardinale¹, Maurizio Viscardi¹, Giuseppe Rofrano¹, Alfonso Gallo¹, Pasquale Brusco¹, Antonio Pizzolante¹, Vittorio Cicalese¹, Pio Galdi¹, Lydia Galdi¹, Sabato De Vita¹, Palmiero Volzone¹, Gabriele Di Vuolo¹, Annachiara Coppola^{1

4}, Biancamaria Pierri^{1

5}, Giovanna Fusco¹

Affiliations

¹ Centro di Referenza Nazionale per l'Analisi e Studio di Correlazione tra Ambiente, Animale e Uomo, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, Naples, 80055, Italy.
² Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Food Safety, Nutrition, & Veterinary Public Health Department, Rome, 00161, Italy.
³ Cotugno Hospital, AORN Ospedali dei Colli, Naples, 80131, Italy.
⁴ Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Universita' degli studi della Campania 'L. Vanvitelli', Naples, 80138, Italy.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Surgery & Dentistry (Scuola Medica Salernitana), University of Salerno, Baronissi, 84081, Italy.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, has rarely been associated with transmission from humans to animals (reverse zoonotic transmission). In this retrospective study, the authors reviewed data obtained from 236 animals, including buffaloes, goats/sheep, horses, carrier pigeons, rabbits, hens, snakes, pigs and cows that were screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection because they had been in contact with their SARS-CoV-2-positive breeder for at least 2 weeks. None of the tested animals were found to be positive. The authors' findings suggest that the risk of reverse zoonotic transmission among bred animals and SARS-CoV-2-positive breeders is very low or nonexistent. Additional studies are warranted.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; human-to-animal transmission; interspecies transmission; reverse zoonotic transmission.