A team of Spanish scientists has identified the first case of covid-19 in the Eurasian river otter (luther luther), located near a reservoir in the Community of Valencia. Researchers linking transmission to probability contact with contaminated sewageThey insist that it is necessary. set up a surveillance system for this coronavirus in wild mustelidsbecause they can be the reservoir of the virus.
The finding represents First detection case of this wild-type virus worldwideIt has just been published in the international scientific journal ‘Frontiers in Veterinary Science’.
Virus detection was performed using two different types of PCR tests on RNA extracted from the animal’s nasopharynx and lung tissue and mediastinal lymph nodes by swab. Samples from two otters from remote areas were negative in the same tests.
The research, led by scientists from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Valencia (CEU UCH), the Valencian Institute of Biomedicine (CSIC), and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), confirmed that: human-caused contaminationAlthough The first source of this emerging infectious disease is probably animal..
Animals have been involved in three known outbreaks of severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus, recorded in 2005, 2012 and 2019. The pandemic nature of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak increases the likelihood of human-induced infection in animal species sensitive, therefore, can be secondary viral hosts and even disease reservoirs.
Contact with contaminated water
Consuelo Rubio, principal investigator of the Molecular Virology Group at CEU UCH and co-author of the study, noted that already identified changes in the sequence of the virus were discovered in samples from human patients. Human origin of the virus detected in this wild otteralthough their specific combinations are different”.
“It may have caused contact with contaminated sewage with the virus present in the river region where the otter lives,” added Rubio.
The same research team was also spotted in May of last year. two positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in wild American mink, on two rivers in the province of Castellón. These were the first European cases of the virus in wild animals not in direct contact with infected humans.
Just then, in the article published in the journal ‘Animals’, the researchers raised the possible source of transmission through contact of these aquatic animals with contaminated wastewater in river areas.
“Different animal species have been involved in three acute respiratory syndrome outbreaks caused by other coronaviruses in previous outbreaks. However, with regard to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, our findings in both mink and otter samples suggest a surveillance system for this coronavirus in wild mustelids”, says Rubio.
“This will make it possible to assess the risk of these animals becoming reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2. new mutations of the virus that can reinfect humans or to other wild species in contact with infected mustelids,” he concludes.
Mink infections to man
In their previous research, this team of Spanish scientists, in addition to confirmed cases of human mink infection, There are also suggestions that mink-to-human transmission has occurred..
“So far, mink infections have only been fur farmsexcept for a wild mink (neovison’s view) They live infected in the wild near a fur farm in Utah, United States, suggesting a route of transmission from farms to wild mink,” they detailed in their report.
The researchers later reported that two of the thirteen wild American mink they tested had coronavirus after being caught during an invasive species-trapping campaign.
“They are trapped in river beds in sparsely populated rural areas known to support self-sustaining wild mink populations. The closest fur farm is about 20 kilometers away, experts said.
In these cases, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in the animals’ mesenteric lymph nodes by two-step PCR assays and found to correspond. wuhan dramafirst known covid-19.
Experimental infections elicited varying levels of susceptibility among various animal species and families. a) Yes, poultry are not susceptible and pigs or cattle are low susceptibility while felines and mustelids are vulnerable to transmission.
spread in animals
The spread of SARS-CoV-2 in large human populations worldwide has led to reports of transmission to animals living in close contact with infected humans. In addition to the American visions, covid was also detected in our country. domestic and stray cats (pops), in tigers ( panthera tigris) Lions (panther lion) from zoos and domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo).
Outbreaks in farmed American mink were particularly common. It was first reported in the Netherlands and later in several other European countries (Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Sweden) and North America (Canada and the United States). contact with infected workers.
To prevent the possible spread of the virus to humans, mass killings of infected farm mink were carried out in some of these countries.
american mink a exotic spices in the Europe capable of colonizing new environments and replacing critically endangered specieslike the European mink (Mustela lutreola), or to hunt the vulnerable Pyrenean surplus (galemys pyrenaicus) and the southern water mouse (Arvicola sapidus). a) Yes, Included in the Spanish Invasive Alien Species Catalogueand is subject to destruction by capture and culling.
Reference report: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.826991/full