ABSTRACT
The end of the pandemic could be marked, not by the total eradication of the virus but by a decrease in cases and seasonal peaks in the frequency of SARSCoV-2. Although this has already happened with the influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus responsible for the 2009 pandemic, unlike on that occasion, many of the countries that have widely covered their population with the vaccination scheme, still receive the onslaught of COVID-19 and have resumed containment measures due to the appearance, above all, of new variants. The latter suggests that the path to SARS-CoV-2 seasonality may not be as benevolent as the 2009 influenza virus was. Therefore, it is necessary to study the characteristics by which this new virus can acquire seasonality. to consider this scenario and take the necessary measures to face it from a different perspective. © 2022 Academia Nacional de Medicina. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread globally, and the number of worldwide cases continues to rise. The zoonotic origins of SARS-CoV-2 and its intermediate and potential spillback host reservoirs, besides humans, remain largely unknown. Because of ethical and experimental constraints and more important, to reduce and refine animal experimentation, we used our repository of well-differentiated airway epithelial cell (AEC) cultures from various domesticated and wildlife animal species to assess their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. We observed that SARS-CoV-2 replicated efficiently only in monkey and cat AEC culture models. Whole-genome sequencing of progeny viruses revealed no obvious signs of nucleotide transitions required for SARS-CoV-2 to productively infect monkey and cat AEC cultures. Our findings, together with previous reports of human-to-animal spillover events, warrant close surveillance to determine the potential role of cats, monkeys, and closely related species as spillback reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2.