Investigations on the potential role of free-ranging wildlife as a reser-voir of SARS-Coronavirus-2 in Switzerland

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is having a dramatic impact on human society. Although the source of the virus remains unclear, everything points to its origin in wild animals. It is also becoming increasingly clear that a large number of domestic and wild animal species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, which has led, among other things, to the recommendation to include wild animals in infection surveillance. COVID-19 is a typical example of a disease that should be investigated using a One Health approach. To date, there is no information on the virus prevalence or the possible role of wild animals living in the wild as a virus reservoir in Switzerland. The aim of this study is to examine various wild animal species for possible SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the postulated susceptibility and risk of infection, the following species are primarily being investigated: felids (European wildcat, Eurasian lynx), canids (gray ...