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Following the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, cases of pets infected with variants circulating among humans were reported. In order to evaluate the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 circulation among pets in the Republic of the Congo, we conducted a ten-month study of dogs and cats living in COVID-19-positive households in Brazzaville and neighboring localities. Real-time PCR and the Luminex platform were used to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 RBD and S proteins, respectively. Our results show for the first time the simultaneous circulation of several variants of SARS-CoV-2, including viruses from clades 20A and 20H and a putative recombinant variant between viruses from clades 20B and 20H. We found a high seroprevalence of 38.6%, with 14% of tested pets positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Thirty-four percent of infected pets developed mild clinical signs, including respiratory and digestive signs, and shed the virus for about one day to two weeks. These results highlight the potential risk of SARS-CoV-2 interspecies transmission and the benefits of a “One Health” approach that includes SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis and surveillance of viral diversity in pets. This approach aims to prevent transmission to surrounding wildlife as well as spillback to humans.

Bats play key roles in ecosystem functions and provide services to human populations. There is a need to protect bat populations and to mitigate the risks associated with pathogen spillover. Caves are key habitats for many bat species, which use them as roosting and breeding sites. Caves, bats and their guano also attract many other animals along trophic chains which might favor direct or indirect interspecies interactions. Two caves hosting colonies of insectivorous bats have been investigated in the Republic of Congo to characterize habitat sharing and interactions between bats, humans and animals. We set up a camera-trap monitoring protocol during 19 months at the entrance of and inside each cave. Our results demonstrated the richness and complexity of the species interactions around and within these caves. We identified and/or quantified mainly rodents, but also numerous categories of animals such as insects, birds, reptiles and carnivores using the caves. We investigated the temporal variation in the use of caves and the potential interactions between humans, wild animals and bat colonies. Our study contributes to the understanding of the interface and interactions, for the first time quantified, between cave-dwelling animal species, including humans. This knowledge is important to promote the conservation of cave ecosystems and better understand the ecology of infectious diseases.

Abstract Following the implementation of a camera trap‐monitoring protocol of interactions between cave bats and wildlife in the Republic of Congo, we identified sustained rusty‐spotted genet (Genetta maculata) activity in Boundou cave. This cave, consisting of a single chamber, is home to a colony of several species of insectivorous bats throughout the year. Between 2022 and 2023, we recorded four events of bat or rodent consumption, one hunting attempt on bats and three feeding behaviors on insects. We describe and discuss the various behaviors and briefly elaborate on the potential epidemiological implications of bat consumption. To the best of our knowledge, our videos are the first to depict the consumption of bats by rusty‐spotted genets.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a zoonotic orthopoxvirus, endemic to the heavily forested regions of West and Central Africa. MPXV is a close relative of variola virus (the causative agent of [...]

Studying wildlife space use in human‐modified environments contributes to characterize wildlife‐human interactions to assess potential risks of zoonotic‐pathogens transmission, and to pinpoint conservation issues. In central African rainforests with human dwelling and activities, we conducted a telemetry study on a group of males of Hypsignathus monstrosus, a lek‐mating fruit bat identified as a potential maintenance host for Ebola virus. During a lekking season in 2020, we investigated the foraging‐habitat selection and the individual nighttime space use during both mating and foraging activities close to villages and their surrounding agricultural landscape. At night, marked individuals strongly selected agricultural lands and more generally areas near watercourses to forage, where they spent more time compared to forest ones. Furthermore, the probability and duration of the presence of bats in the lek during nighttime decreased with the distance to their roost site but remained relatively high within a 10 km radius. Individuals adjusted foraging behaviors according to mating activity by reducing both the overall time spent in foraging areas and the number of forest areas used to forage when they spent more time in the lek. Finally, the probability of a bat revisiting a foraging area in the following 48 hours increased with the previous time spent in that foraging area. These behaviors occurring close to or in human‐modified habitats can trigger direct and indirect bat‐human contacts, which could thus facilitate pathogen transmission such as Ebola virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]