SARS-CoV-2 infection in synanthropic rats from Guayaquil city (Ecuador) during COVID-19 pandemic: A proxy to prevent wild reservoirs in the tropics

IF 2.1 3区医学 Q2 PARASITOLOGY

Acta tropica Pub Date : 2024-08-27 DOI:10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107371

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Human-to-animal reverse transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is a risk for new reservoirs' emergence and new variants' evolution. SARS-CoV-2 infection of synanthropic rodents in urban settings has been reported during COVID-19 in New York and Mexico cities. In this study, we addressed the potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to synanthropic rats in the city of Guayaquil (Ecuador) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total number of 234 rats were collected and analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 detection by RT-qPCR. A positivity rate of 6 % (14 rats) was found, and SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by Sanger sequencing of the viral genome. Our results confirm the potential risk of synanthropic rats as reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is worrisome for low and middle income countries like Ecuador, where pest and waste control in urban settings is challenging. Moreover, the risk of spillover to wild fauna is a concern in Guayaquil, where synanthropic fauna includes raccoons or coatis and forest patches with a wild population of felids or primates existing within the city limits. In this context, SARS-CoV-2 sentinel surveillance of synanthropic rodents could serve as a proxy for a One Health approach to prevent the emergence of new wild reservoirs.

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在 COVID-19 大流行期间，瓜亚基尔市（厄瓜多尔）的同类鼠感染了 SARS-CoV-2 病毒：预防热带地区野生病毒库的替代物。

SARS-CoV-2 的人兽逆向传播有可能导致新的病毒库出现和新变种的进化。据报道，在 COVID-19 期间，纽约和墨西哥城市的同类啮齿动物感染了 SARS-CoV-2。在本研究中，我们探讨了在 COVID-19 大流行期间，SARS-CoV-2 在厄瓜多尔瓜亚基尔市同类鼠类中的潜在传播。我们共收集了 234 只大鼠，并通过 RT-qPCR 对其进行了 SARS-CoV-2 检测分析。阳性率为 6%（14 只大鼠），病毒基因组的 Sanger 测序证实了 SARS-CoV-2 感染。我们的研究结果证实，同类鼠有可能成为 SARS-CoV-2 的感染源。这对于厄瓜多尔这样的中低收入国家来说令人担忧，因为在这些国家，城市环境中的害虫和废物控制工作具有挑战性。此外，在瓜亚基尔，野生动物受到感染的风险也是一个令人担忧的问题，因为那里的同类动物包括浣熊或浣熊，以及在城市范围内有野生猫科动物或灵长类动物的森林斑块。在这种情况下，对同类啮齿动物进行 SARS-CoV-2 哨点监测可以作为 "统一健康 "方法的替代方法，以防止出现新的野生动物库。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Acta tropica 医学-寄生虫学

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

11.10%

发文量

383

审稿时长

37 days

期刊介绍： Acta Tropica, is an international journal on infectious diseases that covers public health sciences and biomedical research with particular emphasis on topics relevant to human and animal health in the tropics and the subtropics.