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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1496207
This article is part of the Research Topic Sequencing and Phylogenetic Analysis as a Tool in Molecular Epidemiology of Veterinary Infectious Diseases - Volume II View all 4 articles

SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance and Detection in Wild, Captive, and Domesticated Animals in Nebraska: 2021-2023

Provisionally accepted
Duan Sriyotee Loy Duan Sriyotee Loy 1*Rachael Birn Rachael Birn 2Korakrit Poonsuk Korakrit Poonsuk 3Bryan Tegomoh Bryan Tegomoh 4Amanda Bartling Amanda Bartling 5Michael Wiley Michael Wiley 5John Dustin Loy John Dustin Loy 1
  • 1 University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, United States
  • 2 University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
  • 3 Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States
  • 4 Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States
  • 5 Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Widespread surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 was conducted across wildlife, captive animals in zoological collections, and domestic cats in Nebraska from 2021 to 2023. The goal of this effort was to determine the prevalence, phylogenetic and spatial distribution characteristics of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants using various diagnostic methodologies that can utilize both antemortem and postmortem samples, which may be required for wildlife such as white-tailed deer. Statewide surveillance testing revealed high variation in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence among species, with white-tailed deer identified as the primary reservoir. In 2021, seroprevalence in white-tailed deer was 63.73% (n=91) and 39.66% (n=237) in 2022, while virus detection in retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) was 16.35% (n=483) in 2021 and 3.61% (n=277) in 2022. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted on 11 positive samples from 2021. This analysis revealed the presence of four lineages of the Delta variants. AY.100, AY.119, AY.3, and AY.46.4. Conversely, other species showed no virus detection, except domestic cats, which had a low seroprevalence of 2.38% (n=628) in 2022, indicating minimal exposure. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer and the identification of multiple Delta lineages underscores the need for ongoing surveillance and the importance of using different diagnostic methodologies. These efforts are critical for understanding virus circulation and evolution in wildlife and domestic animals, informing public health strategies, and mitigating the risks of zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging infectious diseases.

    Keywords: Formal analysis, methodology, visualization, Writing -review & editing. Duan Sriyotee Loy: Conceptualization, investigation, Writing -original draft. John Dustin Loy: Conceptualization, project administration, supervision

    Received: 13 Sep 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Loy, Birn, Poonsuk, Tegomoh, Bartling, Wiley and Loy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Duan Sriyotee Loy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.