Coronavirus in wildlife mobilizes the Brazilian scientific community

Recife (Brazil), May 26 (EFE).- Sars-CoV-2 infections in species of Brazilian wildlife, many of them without contact with humans, are mobilizing the country's scientific community, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and who fears for the animals in the face of the unknown of new strains.

STATEMENTS BY VETERINARY DOCTOR AND IN ANIMAL CLINICAL PATHOLOGY, ALEXÁNDER BIONDO, PLUS RESOURCES FROM THE CURITIBA ZOO AND THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARANÁ (UFPR) IN CURITIBA, COURTESY OF BIONDO.

ALEXANDER BIONDO: "WE HAVE AN EXUBERANT FAUNA IN BRAZIL, MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AND, FURTHER DOWN (TO THE SOUTH), WITH THE ATLANTIC FOREST - FOREST ECOSYSTEM - AND WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THESE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE ANIMALS, SUCH AS NON-HUMAN PRIMATES AND THAT IS WHY IT DID NOT CAUSE SURPRISE IN THE SAGÜÍ, WHICH IS A SMALL MONKEY, WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE URBAN AREA, BUT WHICH IS ALSO FOUND IN CUIABÁ (IN THE MARSHLANDS) AND PARTICIPATES IN THE NATIVE FAUNA, WE ALSO HAVE FELINES AND WEASELS, AND THE MINK IS ONE OF THEM, BUT IN THE BRAZILIAN NATIVE FAUNA".

"WE EXPECT THAT MORE SPECIES WILL BE AFFECTED, BUT WE HOPE THAT TRANSITORILY THEY WILL NOT DEVELOP THE DISEASE. THAT'S WHY WE DON'T TALK ABOUT COVID-19 IN ANIMALS AND WE TALK ABOUT SARS-COV-2 INFECTION, BECAUSE THEY DON'T DEVELOP COVID-19 OR ANY OTHER DISEASE THAT CAUSES MORE OBVIOUS SYMPTOMATOLOGY."

"THE SECOND ISSUE WAS THAT IT WAS DEMONSTRATED THAT WILD ANIMALS, BOTH NATIVE FAUNA AND EXOTIC FAUNA, CAN BE INFECTED, WE SAW THAT THEY CAN. THE EXOTIC ONES BECAUSE WE SAW THAT TIGERS AND LIONS WERE INFECTED IN OTHER COUNTRIES AND THE NATIVE ONES (IN BRAZIL) BECAUSE OF WHAT WAS SAID".