Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study

Flora Alfano; Maria Gabriella Lucibelli; Francesco Serra; Martina Levante; Simona Rea; Amalia Gallo; Federica Petrucci; Marina Monini; Ilaria Di Bartolo; Dario D’Ovidio; Mario Santoro; Esterina De Carlo; Giovanna Fusco; Maria Grazia Amoroso

doi:10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

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preprints.org > biology and life sciences > animal science, veterinary science and zoology > doi: 10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

Preprint Communication Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study

Flora Alfano

^* ,

Maria Gabriella Lucibelli

Version 1 : Received: 27 December 2023 / Approved: 28 December 2023 / Online: 28 December 2023 (10:22:18 CET)

How to cite: Alfano, F.; Lucibelli, M.G.; Serra, F.; Levante, M.; Rea, S.; Gallo, A.; Petrucci, F.; Monini, M.; Di Bartolo, I.; D’Ovidio, D.; Santoro, M.; De Carlo, E.; Fusco, G.; Amoroso, M.G. Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study. Preprints 2023, 2023122157. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1 Alfano, F.; Lucibelli, M.G.; Serra, F.; Levante, M.; Rea, S.; Gallo, A.; Petrucci, F.; Monini, M.; Di Bartolo, I.; D’Ovidio, D.; Santoro, M.; De Carlo, E.; Fusco, G.; Amoroso, M.G. Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study. Preprints 2023, 2023122157. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

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MDPI and ACS Style

Alfano, F.; Lucibelli, M.G.; Serra, F.; Levante, M.; Rea, S.; Gallo, A.; Petrucci, F.; Monini, M.; Di Bartolo, I.; D’Ovidio, D.; Santoro, M.; De Carlo, E.; Fusco, G.; Amoroso, M.G. Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study. Preprints 2023, 2023122157. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

APA Style

Alfano, F., Lucibelli, M.G., Serra, F., Levante, M., Rea, S., Gallo, A., Petrucci, F., Monini, M., Di Bartolo, I., D’Ovidio, D., Santoro, M., De Carlo, E., Fusco, G., & Amoroso, M.G. (2023). Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

Chicago/Turabian Style

Alfano, F., Giovanna Fusco and Maria Grazia Amoroso. 2023 "Are Non Conventional Pets Potential Carriers of Zoonotic Viruses? A Two Years Study" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.2157.v1

Abstract

We investigated by Real-time PCR and end point PCR the presence of 10 potential zoonotic viruses in 91 small mammals sold as pets in pet shops of Southern Italy. The animals were analysed for: aichivirus, sapovirus, astrovirus, hepatitis A virus, noroviruses (GI and GII), rotavirus, circovirus, coronaviruses. Among the 9 species of small mammals analysed (golden hamsters, Java squirrels, mongolian gerbils, peruvian guinea pigs, pet mice, pet rats, dwarf rabbits, african hedgehogs and sugar gliders) 12 pet rats, 11 pet mice and 1 golden hamster tested positive to a PCR amplifying a conserved gene (RdRp) of coronavirus. However further characterizaton by sequencing gave not conclusive results. A pet rat resulted instead positive to aichivirus and its sequence showed similarity with a murine kobuvirus-1 strain identified in China. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the detection of aichivirus in rodents in Italy, the virus probably introduced through the importation of animals from Asia. Since living in close contact to humans, expecially with children, the continuous monitoring of the small mammals is very important to avoid the spread of new pathologies among animals and humans and further investigation is desirable in order to safeguard public health.

Keywords

Aichivirus; Rattus norvegicus; non conventional pets; small mammals; kobuvirus

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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