Experimental susceptibility of North American raccoons (Procyon lotor) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) to SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Skunks and raccoons were intranasally inoculated or indirectly exposed to SARS-CoV-2. Both species are susceptible to infection; however, the lack of, and low quantity of infectious virus shed by raccoons and skunks, respectively, and lack of cage mate transmission in both species, suggest that neither species are competent SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs.

Effects of Spike Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern on Human or Animal ACE2-Mediated Virus Entry and Neutralization

“…These companion animals can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 in natural and experimental settings, and usually remain asymptomatic although some develop mild respiratory disease [23,[53][54][55]. Overall, our pseudotyped virus entry results are consistent with previous animal susceptibility studies with all animal ACE2 receptors (human, cat, dog, cow, horse, camel, hamster, rabbit, mink, and white-tailed deer) tested in this report allowing virus entry [48][49][50][51][52]. Although there are currently no reports of natural or experimental infection in horses and camels, there have been concerns that SARS-CoV-2 may infect these animals based on predictions from structural in silico analyses or cell-to-cell fusion assays using pseudotyped virus [16][17][18].…”

“…The efficiency of virus entry among animal ACE2 receptors tested are not remarkably different from that of human ACE2, except for mink ACE2 which was consistently associated with comparatively low virus entry. Many animal species have been reported to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection either in experimental studies or natural infection as evidenced by clinical disease, viral replication in the respiratory tract and other organs, viral shedding/transmission, or seroconversion; these include domestic and large captive cats, dogs, cattle, mink, ferrets, otters, fruit bats, non-human primates, New Zealand white rabbits, hamsters, deer mice, bushy-tailed woodrats, striped skunks, and white-tailed deer [48][49][50][51][52].…”

SARS-CoV-2 infection in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

“…several species of big cats, Asian small-clawed otters, western lowland gorillas, and mink) (3). Experimental infections have identified additional animal species susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 including hamsters, North American raccoons, striped skunks, white-tailed deer, raccoon dogs, fruit bats, deer mice, domestic European rabbits, bushy-tailed woodrats, tree shrews, and multiple non-human primate species (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Moreover, several naturally or experimentally infected species were capable of intra-species SARS-CoV-2 transmission (cats, ferrets, fruit bats, hamsters, raccoon dogs, deer mice, white-tailed deer) (6-8, 10, 14-16).…”

Assessing the risks of SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife

“…Such studies demonstrate susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, albeit with varying levels of viral replication and shedding, in domestic cats (Felis catus) and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), ferrets (Mustela putorius furo), American mink (Neovison vison), Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), Roborovski's dwarf hamster (Phodopus roborovskii), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), bushy-tailed woodrats (Neotoma cinerea), bank voles (Myodes glareolus), rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), cynomolgus macaques (M. fascicularis), African green monkeys (Chlorocebus sp. ), Chinese tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), racoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), laboratory rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and mice (Mus musculus), and cattle (Bos taurus) [21,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. Experimental studies have failed to demonstrate susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 in a range of other species including cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus sp.…”