TY - JOUR
T1 - A household case evidences shorter shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in naturally infected cats compared to their human owners
AU - Neira, Víctor
AU - Brito, Bárbara
AU - Agüero, Belén
AU - Berrios, Felipe
AU - Valdés, Valentina
AU - Gutierrez, Alberto
AU - Ariyama, Naomi
AU - Espinoza, Patricio
AU - Retamal, Patricio
AU - Holmes, Edward C.
AU - Gonzalez-Reiche, Ana S.
AU - Khan, Zenab
AU - van de Guchte, Adriana
AU - Dutta, Jayeeta
AU - Miorin, Lisa
AU - Kehrer, Thomas
AU - Galarce, Nicolás
AU - Almonacid, Leonardo I.
AU - Levican, Jorge
AU - van Bakel, Harm
AU - García-Sastre, Adolfo
AU - Medina, Rafael A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, on behalf of Shanghai Shangyixun Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been detected in domestic and wild cats. However, little is known about natural viral infections of domestic cats, although their importance for modelling disease spread, informing strategies for managing positive human-animal relationships and disease prevention. Here, we describe the SARS-CoV-2 infection in a household of two human adults and sibling cats (one male and two females) using real-time RT–PCR, an ELISA test, viral sequencing, and virus isolation. On May 5th, 2020, the cat-owners tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Two days later, the male cat showed mild respiratory symptoms and tested positive. Four days after the male cat, the two female cats became positive, asymptomatically. Also, one human and one cat showed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. All cats excreted detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA for a shorter duration than humans and viral sequences analysis confirmed human-to-cat transmission. We could not determine if cat-to-cat transmission also occurred.
AB - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been detected in domestic and wild cats. However, little is known about natural viral infections of domestic cats, although their importance for modelling disease spread, informing strategies for managing positive human-animal relationships and disease prevention. Here, we describe the SARS-CoV-2 infection in a household of two human adults and sibling cats (one male and two females) using real-time RT–PCR, an ELISA test, viral sequencing, and virus isolation. On May 5th, 2020, the cat-owners tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Two days later, the male cat showed mild respiratory symptoms and tested positive. Four days after the male cat, the two female cats became positive, asymptomatically. Also, one human and one cat showed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. All cats excreted detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA for a shorter duration than humans and viral sequences analysis confirmed human-to-cat transmission. We could not determine if cat-to-cat transmission also occurred.
KW - domestic cats
KW - households
KW - natural infection
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - viral shedding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102188564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/22221751.2020.1863132
DO - 10.1080/22221751.2020.1863132
M3 - Article
C2 - 33317424
AN - SCOPUS:85102188564
SN - 2222-1751
VL - 10
SP - 376
EP - 383
JO - Emerging Microbes and Infections
JF - Emerging Microbes and Infections
IS - 1
ER -
