Oral Sampling of Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) Maternity Colonies for SARS-CoV-2 in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, USA.
Animals (Basel)
; 13(4)2023 Feb 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2225000
ABSTRACT
The potential introduction of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, into North American bat populations is of interest to wildlife managers due to recent disease-mediated declines of several species. Populations of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have collapsed due to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by the introduction and spread of the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Throughout much of the United States and southern Canada, large colonies of the species routinely established diurnal roosts in anthropogenic structures, thereby creating the potential for direct human contact and cross-species disease transmission. Given recent declines and the potential for further disease impacts, we collected oral swabs from eight little brown bat maternity colonies to assess the presence and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR analysis. Little brown bat colonies in Maryland (n = 1), New Hampshire (n = 1), New Jersey (n = 2), New York (n = 1), Rhode Island (n = 2), and Virginia (n = 1) were taken during May-August, 2022. From 235 assayed individuals, no bat tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Our results indicate that little brown bats may not contract SARS-CoV-2 or that the virus persists at undetectable levels in populations of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast during summer months. Nonetheless, continued monitoring and future work addressing other seasons may still be warranted to conclusively determine infection status.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ani13040550
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