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Myocarditis in naturally infected pets with the British variant of COVID-19

View ORCID ProfileLuca Ferasin, View ORCID ProfileMatthieu Fritz, View ORCID ProfileHeidi Ferasin, View ORCID ProfilePierre Becquart, View ORCID ProfileVincent Legros, View ORCID ProfileEric M. Leroy
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.18.435945
Luca Ferasin
1The Ralph Veterinary Referral Centre, Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 1YG, United Kingdom
2Specialist Veterinary Cardiology Consultancy, Four Marks, Hampshire, GU34 5AA, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: luca@cardiospecialist.co.uk eric.leroy@ird.fr
Matthieu Fritz
3Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Maladies Infectieuses et vecteurs: Ecologie, génétique, Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC) (IRD 224 - CNRS 5290 – Université de Montpellier), Montpellier, France
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Heidi Ferasin
1The Ralph Veterinary Referral Centre, Marlow, Buckinghamshire SL7 1YG, United Kingdom
2Specialist Veterinary Cardiology Consultancy, Four Marks, Hampshire, GU34 5AA, United Kingdom
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Pierre Becquart
3Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Maladies Infectieuses et vecteurs: Ecologie, génétique, Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC) (IRD 224 - CNRS 5290 – Université de Montpellier), Montpellier, France
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Vincent Legros
4CIRI – Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team EVIR, Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Inserm, U111, UMR5308, ENS Lyon, 46 allée d’Italie, F-69007, Lyon, France
5Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, Marcy-l’Etoile, France
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Eric M. Leroy
3Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Maladies Infectieuses et vecteurs: Ecologie, génétique, Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC) (IRD 224 - CNRS 5290 – Université de Montpellier), Montpellier, France
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  • For correspondence: luca@cardiospecialist.co.uk eric.leroy@ird.fr
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Abstract

Domestic pets can contract SARS-CoV-2 infection but, based on the limited information available to date, it is unknown whether the new British B.1.1.7 variant can more easily infect certain animal species or increase the possibility of human-to-animal transmission. In this study, we report the first cases of infection of domestic cats and dogs by the British B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 diagnosed at a specialist veterinary hospital in the South-East of England. Furthermore, we discovered that many owners and handlers of these pets had developed Covid-19 respiratory symptoms 3-6 weeks before their pets became ill and had also tested PCR positive for Covid-19. Interestingly, all these B.1.1.7 infected pets developed atypical clinical manifestations, including severe cardiac abnormalities secondary to myocarditis and a profound impairment of the general health status of the patient but without any primary respiratory signs. Together, our findings demonstrate for the first time the ability for companion animals to be infected by the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 and raise questions regarding its pathogenicity in these animals. Moreover, given the enhanced infectivity and transmissibility of B.1.1.7 variant for humans, these findings also highlights more than ever the risk that companion animals may potentially play a significant role in SARS-CoV-2 outbreak dynamics than previously appreciated.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted March 18, 2021.
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Myocarditis in naturally infected pets with the British variant of COVID-19
Luca Ferasin, Matthieu Fritz, Heidi Ferasin, Pierre Becquart, Vincent Legros, Eric M. Leroy
bioRxiv 2021.03.18.435945; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.18.435945
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Myocarditis in naturally infected pets with the British variant of COVID-19
Luca Ferasin, Matthieu Fritz, Heidi Ferasin, Pierre Becquart, Vincent Legros, Eric M. Leroy
bioRxiv 2021.03.18.435945; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.18.435945

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