Overview on the Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Fur Animals
The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)has brought great harm to public health safety,but the source of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)causing COVID-19 has not been concluded. It was shown that,by available evidences,the virus was with similar homology with the SARS-CoV-2 isolated from bats and pangolins,which indicated that bats and pangolins might act as the intermediate hosts for the virus. It was reported that captive minks and farm workers had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Denmark,Netherlands and the United States. According to related study,SARS-CoV-2 could replicate on the upper respiratory tract of ferrets who were highly susceptible to the virus,which indicated that ferrets could be used as an animal model of infection and transmission of the virus.In February to July of 2020,the mink samples collected from Shandong,Jilin,Liaoning,Heilongjiang and other provinces where most fur animals were kept were monitored for pathogen and antibody of SARS-CoV-2,328 visceral tissue samples and throat swabs were detected by the real-time RT-PCR assay recommended by WHO,and all the samples turned out to be negative;meanwhile,35 serum samples were detected by use of the ELISA kit provided by Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy,and all the samples were negative for the antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The operators had been in close contact with minks due to intensive courtyard farming,especially,there had been cases of minks infected with SARS-CoV-2 on a large scale in foreign countries. In order to safeguard healthy development of fur animal industry,the farms were monitored and sampled as a priority. No SARS-CoV-2 or relevant antibody were found in any fur animals,which might benefit from low infection rate in populations and the absence of infection in farm workers in China. The method for detecting pathogen and antibody of SARS-CoV-2 in fur animals and pets was established by our laboratory,and epidemiological surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in fur animals and pets should be continued for long term in the future in response to current severe situation of COVID-19 across the world.