Comparison of Three Commercial ELISA Kits for Detection of Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 in Serum Samples from Different Animal Species

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This research was partially funded by the BBVA Foundation as part of the project 'Investigation on the potential role of pets as animal reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2'. The authors also acknowledge the crowdfunding initiative #Yomecorono, available online at https://www.yomecorono.com (accessed on 12 December 2024). IRTA (2021 SGR 00825 and 2021 SGR 01385) and IrsiCaixa (2021 SGR 00452) are supported by CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.

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Fernandez-Bastit, LeiraAuthorVergara-Alert, JuliaCorresponding AuthorSegales, JoaquimCorresponding Author

June 3, 2025

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Publicated to:Viruses-Basel. 17 (5): 716- - 2025-05-16 17(5), DOI: 10.3390/v17050716

Authors: Fernandez-Bastit, Leira; Marfil, Silvia; Pradenas, Edwards; Blanco, Julia; Vergara-Alert, Julia; Segales, Joaquim

Affiliations

Campus Univ Autonoma Barcelona UAB, Ctr Recerca Sanitat Anim CReSA, IRTA, Anim Hlth, Bellaterra 08193, Spain - Author

Campus Univ Autonoma Barcelona UAB, Ctr Recerca Sanitat Anim CReSA, Unitat Mixta Invest IRTA UAB Sanitat Anim, Bellaterra 08193, Spain - Author

Campus Univ Autonoma Barcelona UAB, Dept Sanitat & Anat Anim, Fac Vet, Bellaterra 08193, Spain - Author

Carlos III Hlth Inst, Infect Dis Networking Biomed Res Ctr CIBERINFEC, Madrid 28029, Spain - Author

Germans Trias & Pujol Res Inst IGTP, Can Ruti Campus, Badalona 08916, Spain - Author

IrsiCaixa, Badalona 08916, Spain - Author

Univ Vic Cent Univ Catalonia UVic UCC, Barcelona 08500, Spain - Author

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, significantly impacting global health, economies, and social stability. In February 2020, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals were documented, highlighting the potential risks posed by regular human-animal interactions in facilitating viral transmission. In consequence, it is essential to validate surveillance methods for SARS-CoV-2 in animals. In the present study, 101 sera from different animal species (36 cats, 41 dogs, 4 ferrets, 10 wild boar, 6 domestic goats, and 4 lions) were tested using three different ELISA kits to evaluate humoral responses against SARS-CoV-2. ELISA results were compared and correlated with a pseudovirus neutralization test (pVNT), considered as the reference assay. ELISA-1, targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) of SARS-CoV-2, exhibited the highest diagnostic performance, and proved to be a reliable tool for initial screenings in high-throughput animal studies. In contrast, ELISA-2 (also targeting RBD nAbs) and ELISA-3 (targeting nucleoprotein antibodies) demonstrated lower sensitivity for detecting seropositive animals.

Keywords

Animal serologyElisaHumoral immune responseOne healthPseudovirus neutralization test (pvnt)Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2)Zoonosi

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Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Viruses-Basel due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category .

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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (FERNANDEZ BASTIT, LEIRA PAULA) and Last Author (SEGALES COMA, JOAQUIM).