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It has been observed that some of the pets living with people infected with the virus had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
A multidisciplinary team of Aragonese researchers has allowed the development of a rapid immunochromatography test for serological diagnosis against SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals, which can be used easily, on site, without the need for a laboratory. The professor of the University of Zaragoza Mª Dolores Pérez Cabrejas is the main researcher of this project within the Covid-19 Santander-Unizar Program “Technological Innovation Projects for the year 2020 of the University of Zaragoza”, of the Vice-Rector's Office for Technological Transfer and Innovation, financed by Banco Santander.
Pets living with people infected with Covid-19 are exposed to the virus and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection cannot be ruled out. From an epidemiological point of view, the role that companion animals can play in this infection is still unknown. Given this lack of information, it is necessary to develop specific diagnostic tests to be used in the veterinary field, this being one of the priority objectives set out by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). In this regard, the OIE has indicated that carrying out extensive serological surveillance has a greater probability of detecting eventual infection in animals than carrying out a molecular diagnosis, as has been shown in other viral zoonoses.
The objective of this project has been the development of a rapid multispecies lateral flow immunochromatography test, based on the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, for use in serological diagnosis in companion animals.
For the development of the test, different arrangements have been tested to select the best format with which a prototype was finally prepared. For validation, we have used the human and animal sera previously analyzed using a multispecies plate ELISA test, developed by the researchers participating in the project, which has been the subject of a patent application by the University of Zaragoza, which was presented last March at the European Patent Office.
The results obtained in the project indicate that the immunochromatographic test developed allows detecting the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in sera from humans diagnosed with covid-19, as well as in pets that had given a positive result by the ELISA serological technique. In addition, it has been observed that some of the pets living with people infected with the virus had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
This development constitutes the first multispecies rapid test intended for serological diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals. Furthermore, the format developed, due to its ease of use, can be used at the point of care (Point-of-Care), without the need for a laboratory, and due to its speed it allows immediate decision-making. Therefore, it represents an analytical tool that can be used in the serological surveillance of animals both in the field of research as in the field of the veterinary clinic. The use of these tests would allow us to evaluate the potential role of pets and companion animals in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.
In this project Along with Mª Dolores Pérez Cabrejas (Principal Researcher), the following have participated: Sergio Villanueva Saz, Lourdes Sánchez Paniagua, Antonio Fernández Casasnovas, Mª Teresa Verde Arribas and Ana Pilar Tobajas de la Fuente of the University of Zaragoza-Agrifood Institute of Aragón (UNIZAR-IA2 ); Ramón Hurtado Guerrero from the University of Zaragoza- Institute of Biocomputing and Physics of Complex Systems (UNIZAR-BIFI); Julián Pardo Jimeno from the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón); Luis Mata Vallespín and Patricia Galán Malo, from the Aragonese biotechnology company Zeulab.
