Neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 in stray animals from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a novel Betacoronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) became a public health emergency worldwide. Few reports indicate that owned pets from households with at least one human resident that was diagnosed with COVID-19 can be infected by SARS-CoV-2. However, the exposure to SARS-CoV-2 of pets from households with no COVID-19 cases or stray animals remains less assessed. Using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90), we investigated the infection and previous exposure of dogs and cats to SARS-CoV-2 during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From June to August 2020, 96 animals were sampled, including 49 cats (40 owned and 9 stray) and 47 dogs (42 owned and 5 stray). Regarding owned pets, 75.6% (62/82) belonged to households with no COVID-19 cases. Samples included serum, and rectal and oropharyngeal swabs. All swabs were negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, but serum samples of a stray cat and a stray dog presented neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, with PRNT90 titer of 80 and 40, respectively. Serological data presented here suggest that not only owned pets from households with COVID19 cases, but also stray animals are being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in wild rodents and marsupials from the Atlantic Forest, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that infects a large spectrum of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Small rodents and marsupials play an important role in the epidemiology of T. gondii because they are sources of infection for domestic and feral cats. Serum samples from 151 rodents and 48 marsupials, captured in the Atlantic Forest, São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, were analyzed for the presence of T. gondii antibodies. Antibodies detected by the modified agglutination test (MAT ≥ 25) were found in 8.6% (13/151) of the rodents and 10.4% (5/48) of the marsupials, with titers ranging from 25 to 6400 and from 25 to 3200, respectively for the rodents and marsupials. Three of the eight species of rodents (Akodon spp., Oligoryzomys nigripesand Rattus norvegicus), and one from the four marsupial species (Didelphis aurita) presented positive animals. T. gondii was described for the first time in the rodent Oligoryzomys nigripes.