At the beginning of last May, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the international public health emergency caused by COVID-19. However, the role of different animal species susceptible to contracting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic virus and maintaining it in the environment is a topic of maximum interest for public health at an international level.
In this context, specialists from CONICET, the National University of José C. Paz (UNPaz) and the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) developed “Zoocovid”, a multispecies serological kit that detects antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in sera from mammals, both domestic and wild.
“Our tool can be used with mammalian serum samples to monitor viral circulation and produce information that can identify animal viral reservoirs and potentially prevent future incursions of SARS-CoV-2 variants,” says Alejandra Capozzo , one of the leaders of the development and CONICET researcher at the Institute of Virology and Technological Innovations (IVIT, CONICET-INTA).
The new development, which is described in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science , will be submitted to SENASA for approval and will subsequently be transferred to a national company for large-scale production. Likewise, Capozzo will present the details of the new tool in a lecture that will take place on November 28 at the congress of the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) in Cape Town, South Africa. This organization represents 60 thousand immunology specialists from 81 societies and associations in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia-Oceania, the United States and Canada.
Initially, Capozzo and Leticia Bentancor, CONICET researcher at the Institute of Studies for Productive Development and Innovation (IDEPI) of UNPAZ, and colleagues developed “Serocovid-Federal”, a multispecies serological kit that detects antibodies against the new coronavirus that It was validated with human sera and approved by ANMAT in January 2022. It is currently produced by Laboratorio Chaqueños SA and is attached to the National Agency of Public Laboratories (Anlap). They later adapted it and created “Zoocovid” to analyze mammalian sera.
Now, based on the recently published work, the specialists from CONICET, UNPaz, INTA and colleagues from the Department of Urban Zoonoses and the Multidisciplinary Institute of Health, Technology and Development of Santiago del Estero, managed to validate the good performance of Zoocovid to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after analyzing 634 sera from domestic and wild animals , obtained before and after the pandemic began.
Zoocovid Kit
“We have developed a unique epidemiological tool compatible with the ’one health’ approach, which is a comprehensive, transversal approach that takes human health, animal health and environmental health as one. that these animals and people inhabit ,” explains Capozzo. And he adds that this comprehensive approach to health is “extremely relevant because more than 50% of human diseases come from animals, that is, zoonoses. And of them, more than 70 percent are likely to produce an epidemic or pandemic. It is essential to keep in mind that, even if we are vaccinated, the virus can remain and continue to evolve in any susceptible species.”
Dogs and cats of the Buenos Aires suburbs
The specialists from CONICET, UNPaz and INTA also used Zoocovid to evaluate sera from 464 cats and dogs sampled in 2020 and 2021 (“pandemic” samples) from the Buenos Aires suburbs. They also collected information about the COVID-19 disease at home and the animals’ lifestyles.
The study revealed that cats were infected in a higher proportion than dogs and that the seroprevalence was 7.1% and 1.68%, respectively . “Confirmed COVID-19 in the caregivers and the stray lifestyle (of the animals) were statistically associated with seropositivity in cats,” indicates Capozzo. And he continues: “ Our work highlights the susceptibility of mammals to COVID-19 and the possibility of animal-human and human-animal transmission. For this reason, responsible care and ownership of pets and avoiding contact during their illness is recommended to reduce viral infection and subsequent transmission.”
“Our tool will serve to identify different species susceptible to contagion, transmission between different species, and most importantly, the potential reservoirs that the virus may have in our region,” Capozzo stressed.
“The development of the kit is important for our country since it is the first serological kit validated for animals, this allows us to have a critical tool for the analysis of reservoirs. Furthermore, it represents a milestone for UNPaz as it is one of its first products transferred to the productive sector, made together with INTA and CONICET and using a protein developed by the COVID-UBA Consortium, thus being a 100% national product. It is important to highlight that all national development contributes to the scientific-technological sovereignty of our country,” highlighted Leticia Bentancor .
For Capozzo, presenting the new development at the next congress of the International Union of Immunological Societies means “a great honor, it is a great pleasure to represent our working group and the scientific community that works in veterinary immunology in Latin America. It is important to establish the importance of the ONE HEALTH concept and integrate it as a driving force for research in immunology, especially in applied immunology. “It is the most appropriate way to understand and control zoonoses.”
The research team that developed the multispecies kit to measure antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 received an INNOVAR award in 2022 granted by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation to recognize innovative scientific and technological developments that respond to social needs.
The “Zoocovid” kit is a project that derives from the projects selected by the COVID Unit organized in March 2020 by the Ministry of Science, the National Agency for the Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation (R&D+ Agency i) and CONICET to coordinate the capabilities of the scientific and technological system aimed at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study was directed by Alejandra Capozzo and Leticia Bentancor and Nancy Cardoso and Mariángeles Castillo, from IVIT, also participated; Carla Rivero, from IDEPI; Florencia Mansilla, from IVIT; Florencia Pastorino, Guadalupe Piccirilli, Laura Alonso and Gustavo Martínez, from the Department of Urban Zoonoses of the Ministry of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires; and David Di Lullo, from the Multidisciplinary Institute of Health, Technology and Development (IMSaTeD, CONICET-UNSE), in Santiago del Estero.
