RESUMEN
The present pandemic produced by SARS-CoV-2 and its variants represents an example of the one health concept in which humans and animals are components of the same epidemiologic chain. Animal reservoirs of these viruses are thus the focus of surveillance programs to monitor their circulation and evolution in potentially new hosts and reservoirs. In this work, we report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 Gamma variant infection in four specimens of Chaetophractus villosus (big hairy armadillo/armadillo peludo) in Argentina. In addition to the finding of a new wildlife species susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the identification of the Gamma variant three months after its last detection in humans is a noteworthy result, raising the question of potential unidentified viral reservoirs.
RESUMEN
Molecular surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants was performed on a total of 2,406 samples from the capital city and nine provinces of Argentina, during 30 epidemiological weeks (EW) that covered the end of the first wave and the beginning of the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country (EW 44/2020 to EW 20/2021). The surveillance strategy was mainly based on Sanger sequencing of a Spike coding region that allows the simultaneous identification of signature mutations associated with worldwide circulating variants. In addition, whole SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences were obtained from 456 samples. The main variants found were Gamma, Lambda and Alpha, and to a lesser extent, Zeta and Epsilon. Whereas Gamma dominated in different regions of the country, both Gamma and Lambda prevailed in the most populated area, the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires (MABA), although showing a heterogeneous distribution along this region. This cost-effective surveillance protocol allowed for a rapid response in a limited access to resources scenario, added information on the expansion of the Lambda variant in South America and contributed to the implementation of public health measures to control the disease spread in Argentina.