Susceptibility of Pets to SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Lessons from a Seroepidemiologic Survey of Cats and Dogs in Portugal

• Published in: Microorganisms
• Main Authors: Ricardo Barroso, Alexandre Vieira-Pires, Agostinho Antunes, Isabel Fidalgo-Carvalho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: cats; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); diagnosis; dogs; epidemiology; one-health; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10020345; https://doaj.org/article/09c6dc8181104f7c89244a38a4249ede

Betacoronavirus (β-CoV) are positive single-stranded RNA viruses known to infect mammals. In 2019, a novel zoonotic β-CoV emerged, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2. Although the most frequent SARS-CoV-2 transmission route is within humans, spillover from humans to domestic and wild animals has been reported, including cats ( Felis catus ), dogs ( Canis lupus familiaris ), and minks ( Neovision vision ). In order to understand the potential role of domestic animals in SARS-CoV-2 global transmission, as well their susceptibility to infection, a seroepidemiologic survey of cats and dogs in Portugal was conducted. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 15/69 (21.74%) cats and 7/148 (4.73%) dogs. Of the SARS-CoV-2 seropositive animals, 11/22 (50.00%) were possibly infected by human-to-animal transmission, and 5/15 (33.33%) cats were probably infected by cat-to-cat transmission. Moreover, one dog tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Data suggest that cats and dogs are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection in natural conditions. Hence, a one-health approach is crucial in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to understand the risk factors beyond infection in a human–animal environment interface.