SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance of Wild Mice and Rats in North American Cities

Lisa K F Lee; Chelsea G Himsworth; Natalie Prystajecky; Antonia Dibernardo; L Robbin Lindsay; Theresa M Albers; Rajeev Dhawan; Ken Henderson; Guy Mulder; Harveen K Atwal; Imara Beattie; Bruce K Wobeser; Michael H Parsons; Kaylee A Byers

doi:10.1007/s10393-024-01679-6

SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance of Wild Mice and Rats in North American Cities

Ecohealth. 2024 Mar;21(1):1-8. doi: 10.1007/s10393-024-01679-6. Epub 2024 May 15.

Authors

Lisa K F Lee^{1

2}, Chelsea G Himsworth^{3

4}, Natalie Prystajecky^{5

6}, Antonia Dibernardo⁷, L Robbin Lindsay⁷, Theresa M Albers⁸, Rajeev Dhawan⁸, Ken Henderson⁸, Guy Mulder⁸, Harveen K Atwal³, Imara Beattie^{3

9}, Bruce K Wobeser⁹, Michael H Parsons^{10

11}, Kaylee A Byers^{3

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative British Columbia, Abbotsford, BC, Canada. lee.lisa.43@gmail.com.
² Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada. lee.lisa.43@gmail.com.
³ Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative British Columbia, Abbotsford, BC, Canada.
⁴ School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁵ British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁶ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁷ Zoonotic Diseases and Special Pathogens, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁸ Research Models and Services, Charles River, Wilmington, MA, USA.
⁹ Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5B4, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA.
¹¹ Centre for Urban Ecological Solutions, LLC, Spring, TX, USA.
¹² Pacific Institute On Pathogens, Pandemics and Society, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
¹³ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

PMID: 38748281
DOI: 10.1007/s10393-024-01679-6

Abstract

From July 2020 to June 2021, 248 wild house mice (Mus musculus), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), and black rats (Rattus rattus) from Texas and Washington, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 exposure and infection. Two brown rats and 11 house mice were positive for neutralizing antibodies using a surrogate virus neutralization test, but negative or indeterminate with the Multiplexed Fluorometric ImmunoAssay COVID-Plex, which targets full-length spike and nuclear proteins. Oro-nasopharyngeal swabs and fecal samples tested negative by RT-qPCR, with an indeterminate fecal sample in one house mouse. Continued surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wild rodents is warranted.

Keywords: Animals, wild; Cities; House mice; Public health; Rats; SARS-CoV-2; Serology.

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Wild* / virology
Antibodies, Neutralizing / blood
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cities*
Feces / virology
Mice
Peromyscus / virology
Rats / virology
Rodent Diseases / epidemiology
Rodent Diseases / virology
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing