Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (
SARS-CoV-2), the agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is responsible for the worst
pandemic of the 21st century. Like all
human coronaviruses,
SARS-CoV-2 originated in a wildlife
reservoir, most likely from
bats. As
SARS-CoV-2 has spread across the globe in
humans, it has spilled over to infect a variety of non-
human animal species in domestic,
farm, and zoo settings. Additionally, a broad range of species, including one neotropical
monkey, have proven to be susceptible to experimental
infection with
SARS-CoV-2. Together, these findings raise the specter of establishment of novel enzootic cycles of
SARS-CoV-2. To assess the potential exposure of free-living non-
human primates to
SARS-CoV-2, we sampled 60 neotropical
monkeys living in proximity to Manaus and São José do Rio Preto, two hotspots for COVID-19 in
Brazil. Our molecular and
serological tests detected no evidence of SAR-CoV-2
infection among these
populations. While this result is reassuring, sustained
surveillance efforts of wildlife living in close
association with
human populations is warranted, given the stochastic
nature of spillover events and the enormous implications of
SARS-CoV-2 spillover for
human health.