151154 20251017144608.0 doi 10.3390/ani11071984 sideral 124786 ART-2021-124786 eng Villanueva-Saz, Sergio Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-6209-4282 Absence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Natural Environment Exposure in Sheep in Close Contact with Humans 2021 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the zoonotic causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has caused a pandemic situation with millions of infected humans worldwide. Among domestic animals, there have been limited studies regarding the transmissibility and exposure to the infection in natural conditions. Some animals are exposed andor susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as cats, ferrets and dogs. By contrast, there is no information about the susceptibility of ruminants to SARS-CoV-2. This study tested the antibody response in 90 ovine pre-pandemic serum samples and 336 sheep serum samples from the pandemic period (June 2020 to March 2021). In both cases, the animals were in close contact with a veterinary student community composed of more than 700 members. None of the serum samples analyzed was seroreactive based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike antigen. In this sense, no statistical difference was observed compared to the pre-pandemic sheep. Our results suggest that it seems unlikely that sheep could play a relevant role in the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is the first study to report the absence of evidence of sheep exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in natural conditions. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/ISCIII/COV20-0030 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es 3.231 2021 VETERINARY SCIENCES 16 / 145 = 0.11 2021 Q1 T1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE 13 / 62 = 0.21 2021 Q1 T1 0.61 2021 Veterinary (miscellaneous) 2021 Q1 Animal Science and Zoology 2021 Q1 2.7 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Giner, Jacobo Fernández, Antonio Lacasta, Delia Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-7822-6646 Ortín, Aurora Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-0313-5926 Ramos, Juan José Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-2724-2785 Ferrer, Luis Miguel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-0042-8800 Ruiz de Arcaute, Marta Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-7655-2472 Tobajas, Ana Pilar Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-2646-5733 Pérez, María Dolores Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-2555-8425 Verde, Maite Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-2957-1379 Marteles, Diana Hurtado-Guerrero, Ramón (orcid)0000-0002-3122-9401 Pardo, Julián Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-0154-0730 Santiago, Llipsy Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-1861-5981 González-Ramírez, Andrés Manuel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5838-0857 Macías-León, Javier Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-6815-6720 García-García, Ana Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3791-2997 Taleb, Víctor Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9224-5854 Lira-Navarrete, Erandi Universidad de Zaragoza Paño-Pardo, José Ramón Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-9600-8116 Ruíz, Héctor Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-8474-2831 1011 566 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Microb.Ped.Radio.Sal.Pú. Área Inmunología 1007 610 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Medicina, Psiqu. y Derm. Area Medicina 1002 060 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Bioq.Biolog.Mol. Celular Área Bioquímica y Biolog.Mole. 1009 617 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Patología Animal Área Medicina y Cirugía Animal 2008 780 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Produc.Animal Cienc.Ali. Área Tecnología de Alimentos 11, 7 (2021), 1984 [9 pp.] Animals (Basel) Animals 2076-2615 261469 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151154/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 3014326 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151154/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:151154 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:16:16 ARTICLE