ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has rapidly spread worldwide. The monitoring of animals has shown that certain species may be susceptible to be infected with the virus. The present study aimed to evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by ELISA and virus neutralization (VN) in pets from owners previously confirmed as COVID-19-positive in Argentina. Serum samples of 38 pets (seven cats and 31 dogs) were obtained for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection. Three out of the seven cats and 14 out of the 31 dogs were positive for SARS-CoV-2 by ELISA, and one cat and six dogs showed the presence of neutralizing antibodies in which the cat and two of the six dogs showed high titers. Another dog from which three serum samples had been obtained within eight months from the diagnosis of its owner showed the presence of antibodies at different times by both ELISA and VN. However, the results showed that the antibodies decreased slightly from the first to the third sample. Our results provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection in pets living with COVID-19-positive humans from Argentina during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 can be detected by serology assay.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Cat Diseases , Dog Diseases , Humans , Dogs , Animals , Cats , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/veterinary , SARS-CoV-2 , Disease Outbreaks , Antibodies, Viral , Antibodies, Neutralizing , Cat Diseases/epidemiology , Dog Diseases/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has rapidly spread worldwide. Studies of transmission of the virus carried out in animals have suggested that certain animals may be susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2. The aim of the present study was to investigate the infection of SARS-CoV-2 in pets (18 cats and 20 dogs) from owners previously confirmed as COVID-19-positive. Oropharyngeal and rectal swabs were taken and analyzed by real-time RT-PCR assays, while blood samples were taken for antibody detection. Of the total pets analyzed, one cat was found reactive to SARS-CoV-2 by real-time RT-PCR of an oropharyngeal and a rectal swab. This cat presented only sneezing as a clinical sign. Serological analysis confirmed the presence of antibodies in the serum sample from this cat, as well as in the serum from another cat non-reactive to real-time RT-PCR. Complete sequence and phylogenetic analysis allowed determining that the SARS-CoV-2 genome belonged to the B.1.499 lineage. This lineage has been reported in different provinces of Argentina, mainly in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. This study notifies the first detection of the natural infection and molecular analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in a cat from Argentina whose owner where COVID-19-positive. Although there is currently no evidence that cats can spread COVID-19, results suggest that health authorities should test pets with COVID-19-positive owners.
Subject(s)
Cat Diseases/virology , Coronavirus Infections/veterinary , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Animals , Argentina , COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing/veterinary , Cat Diseases/diagnosis , Cats , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/virology , DNA, Complementary/chemistry , Dogs , Female , Genome, Viral/genetics , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing/veterinary , Phylogeny , RNA, Viral/genetics , RNA, Viral/isolation & purification , SARS-CoV-2/classificationABSTRACT
Lotmaria passim (Kinetoplastea) is considered the most prevalent as well as the most virulent trypanosomatid associated to the European honey bee Apis mellifera. We used qPCR to screen for the presence of this parasite in 57 samples from ten Argentinian provinces, and were able to detect its presence throughout most of the country with 41% of the samples testing positive. In a retrospective analysis, we detected L. passim in 73% of honey bee samples from 2006 showing that this flagellate has been widely present in Argentina for at least ~15 years. Additionally, three primer sets for L. passim detection were compared, with the pair that produced smallest PCR product having the best detection capability. Finally, we also found L. passim DNA in 100% (n = 6) of samples of the mite Varroa destructor. The role of this ectoparasite in the lifecycle of Lotmaria, if any, remains unrevealed.
Subject(s)
Bees/parasitology , Trypanosomatina/isolation & purification , Animals , ArgentinaABSTRACT
Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) infection in cattle causes Enzootic Bovine Leukemia (EBL). About 30% of infected cattle develop persistent lymphocytosis (PL), a 0.1-5% develops tumors, and a 70% remains asymptomatic in an aleukemic stage (AL). Regulatory genes of BLV (Tax, Rex, R3 and G4) are located in a region known as pX(BLV). The variability of those genes had been postulated with the progression of the disease. The aim of this work was to compare the wild-type proviral pX(BLV) region at different stages of BLV natural infected cattle from Argentine Holstein. Pairs of primers were designed to amplify the proviral pX region of 12 cattle by PCR, and products were then sequenced, aligned and compared both with each other and with the reference sequence. Results show a divergence percentage from 0 to 6.1 for the Tax gene, from 0 to 9.4% for the Rex gene, from 0 to 12.1% for the R3 gene and finally from 0 to 6.5% for the G4 gene. Results obtained with hierarchical clustering showed two clusters well differentiated, where the members of each cluster are cattle that had tumor, PL and AL, not allowing differentiate those two cluster by clinical stage.
