SARS‐CoV‐2 delta variant in African lions (Panthera leo) and humans at Utah's Hogle Zoo, USA, 2021–22

Aims We conducted a One Health investigation to assess the source and transmission dynamics of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in African lions (Panthera leo) at Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City from October 2021 to February 2022. Methods and Results Following observation of respiratory illness in the l...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Zoonoses and public health Vol. 71; no. 7; pp. 807 - 816
Main Authors:	Oltjen, Heather, Crook, Erika, Lanier, William A., Rettler, Hannah, Oakeson, Kelly F., Young, Erin L., Torchetti, Mia, Van Wettere, Arnaud J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-11-2024
Subjects:	Animals Animals, Zoo Contact COVID-19 COVID-19 - epidemiology COVID-19 - transmission COVID-19 - veterinary COVID-19 - virology Epidemiology Faeces Feces Feces - virology Female Gene sequencing Genomes Humans Illnesses Lakes lions Lions - virology Male Nucleotide sequence One Health Panthera leo PCR Polymerase chain reaction Public health Respiratory disorders Reverse transcription RNA viruses SARS-CoV-2 - genetics SARS‐CoV‐2 delta variant Severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Shedding Surveillance Symptoms Utah - epidemiology Viral diseases viral zoonotic disease Viruses Whole genome sequencing Zoo animals Utah United States > US Panthera leo lions viral zoonotic disease SARS‐CoV‐2 delta variant One Health
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Aims We conducted a One Health investigation to assess the source and transmission dynamics of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in African lions (Panthera leo) at Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City from October 2021 to February 2022. Methods and Results Following observation of respiratory illness in the lions, zoo staff collected pooled faecal samples and individual nasal swabs from four lions. All specimens tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The resulting investigation included: lion observation; RT‐PCR testing of lion faeces every 1–7 days; RT‐PCR testing of lion respiratory specimens every 2–3 weeks; staff interviews and RT‐PCR testing; whole‐genome sequencing of viruses from lions and staff; and comparison with existing SARS‐CoV‐2 human community surveillance sequences. In addition to all five lions, three staff displayed respiratory symptoms. All lions recovered and no hospitalizations or deaths were reported among staff. Three staff reported close contact with the lions in the 10 days before lion illness onset, one of whom developed symptoms and tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 on days 3 and 4, respectively, after lion illness onset. The other two did not report symptoms or test positive. Two staff who did not have close contact with the lions were symptomatic and tested positive on days 5 and 8, respectively, after lion illness onset. We detected SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA in lion faeces for 33 days and in lion respiratory specimens for 14 weeks after illness onset. The viruses from lions were genetically highly related to those from staff and two contemporaneous surveillance specimens from Salt Lake County; all were delta variants (AY.44). Conclusions We did not determine the sources of these infections, although human‐to‐lion transmission likely occurred. The observed period of respiratory shedding was longer than in previously documented SARS‐CoV‐2 infections in large felids, indicating the need to further assess duration and potential implications of shedding.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1863-1959 1863-2378 1863-2378
DOI:	10.1111/zph.13156