Emerging Coronaviruses in Neotropical Primates: A New Threat?

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities are the main reason for the current alarming conservation status of non-human primates (NHP) worldwide, and also lead to habitat-sharing, facilitating human-NHP (interspecific) viral transmission. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, is well-known for its large genome plasticity and spike proteins (S proteins) highly adaptable to human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2). NHP have been used as models for clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic studies on SARS-CoV-2 and their correlates. However, the lack of systematic sanitary surveillance in NHP in the Neotropics, as well as the limited capacity to detect infections in their populations, challenge the implementation of consistent epidemiological connections regarding the potential interspecific transmission in the natural environment. Although the natural cross-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between humans and NHP has not been demonstrated, the global spread of the virus represents a potential threat. Thus, establishing preventive, surveillance, and control measures for viruses of the family Coronaviridae in Neotropical NHP populations is crucial for their conservation.

No Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Neotropical Primates Sampled During COVID-19 Pandemic in Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…In addition, experimental infection studies have reported susceptibility of several animals such as ferrets, bats, hamsters (Shi et al 2020 ; Imai et al 2020 ) and mainly Old World NHPs (Zheng et al 2020 ; Lu et al 2020 ). As a result, concern about the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 spillback for Neotropical Primates—as happened with YFV in the last century and probably with ZIKA in the last decade—has grown (Terzian et al 2018 ; Yunes Guimarães et al 2020 ). However, the only report of experimental infection in a neotropical NHP published to date examined the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Callithrix jacchus , the common marmoset.…”

No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Neotropical Primates sampled during COVID-19 pandemic in Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…In addition, experimental infection studies have reported susceptibility of several animals such as ferrets, bat, hamsters (Shi et al 2020;Imai et al 2020), and mainly Old World NHPs (Zheng et al 2020;Lu et al 2020). As a result, concern about the SARS-CoV-2 spillback for Neotropical Primates -as happened with YFV in the last century and probably with ZIKA in the last decadehas grown (Terzian et al 2018;Yunes Guimarães et al 2020).…”