Lack of Evidence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Spillover in Free-Living Neotropical Non-Human Primates, Brazil

Like all human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 originated in a wildlife reservoir, most likely from bats. As SARS-CoV-2 has spread across the globe in humans, it has spilled over to infect a variety of non-human animal species in domestic, farm, and zoo settings.

Additionally, a broad range of species, including one neotropical monkey, have proven to be susceptible to experimental infection with SARS-CoV-2. Together, these findings raise the specter of the establishment of novel enzootic cycles of SARS-CoV-2. To assess the potential exposure of free-living non-human primates to SARS-CoV-2, we sampled 60 neotropical monkeys living in proximity to Manaus and São José do Rio Preto, two hotspots for COVID-19 in Brazil.