PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Qiang Zhang
AU  - Huajun Zhang
AU  - Kun Huang
AU  - Yong Yang
AU  - Xianfeng Hui
AU  - Jindong Gao
AU  - Xinglin He
AU  - Chengfei Li
AU  - Wenxiao Gong
AU  - Yufei Zhang
AU  - Cheng Peng
AU  - Xiaoxiao Gao
AU  - Huanchun Chen
AU  - Zhong Zou
AU  - Zhengli Shi
AU  - Meilin Jin
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing serum antibodies in cats: a serological investigation
AID  - 10.1101/2020.04.01.021196
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.04.01.021196
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/03/2020.04.01.021196.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/04/03/2020.04.01.021196.full
AB  - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread worldwide. Previous studies suggested cat could be a potential susceptible animal of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated the infection of SARS-CoV-2 in cats by detecting specific serum antibodies. A cohort of serum samples were collected from cats in Wuhan, including 102 sampled after COVID-19 outbreak, and 39 prior to the outbreak. 15 of 102 (14.7%) cat sera collected after the outbreak were positive for the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 by indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among the positive samples, 11 had SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies with a titer ranging from 1/20 to 1/1080. No serological cross-reactivity was detected between the SARS-CoV-2 and type I or II feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). Our data demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 has infected cat population in Wuhan during the outbreak.