Absence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Natural Environment Exposure in Sheep in Close Contact with Humans
Sergio Villanueva-Saz,
Jacobo Giner,
Antonio Fernández,
Delia Lacasta,
Aurora Ortín,
Juan José Ramos,
Luis Miguel Ferrer,
Marta Ruiz de Arcaute,
Ana Pilar Tobajas,
María Dolores Pérez,
Maite Verde,
Diana Marteles,
Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero,
Julián Pardo,
Llipsy Santiago,
Andrés Manuel González-Ramírez,
Javier Macías-León,
Ana García-García,
Víctor Taleb,
Erandi Lira-Navarrete,
José Ramón Paño-Pardo,
Héctor Ruíz
Affiliations
Sergio Villanueva-Saz
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Jacobo Giner
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Antonio Fernández
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Delia Lacasta
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Aurora Ortín
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Juan José Ramos
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Luis Miguel Ferrer
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Marta Ruiz de Arcaute
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Ana Pilar Tobajas
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
María Dolores Pérez
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Universidad de Zaragoza-CITA, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Maite Verde
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Diana Marteles
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Ramón Hurtado-Guerrero
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Julián Pardo
Aragon I+D Foundation (ARAID), 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Llipsy Santiago
Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Andrés Manuel González-Ramírez
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Javier Macías-León
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Ana García-García
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Víctor Taleb
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Erandi Lira-Navarrete
Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), Mariano Esquillor s/n, Campus Rio Ebro, Edificio I+D, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
José Ramón Paño-Pardo
Infectious Disease Department, University Hospital Lozano Blesa, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Héctor Ruíz
Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has caused a pandemic situation with millions of infected humans worldwide. Among domestic animals, there have been limited studies regarding the transmissibility and exposure to the infection in natural conditions. Some animals are exposed and/or susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as cats, ferrets and dogs. By contrast, there is no information about the susceptibility of ruminants to SARS-CoV-2. This study tested the antibody response in 90 ovine pre-pandemic serum samples and 336 sheep serum samples from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed was seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. Our results suggest that it seems unlikely that sheep could play a relevant role in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is the first study to report the absence of evidence of sheep exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in natural conditions.
