RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Respiratory disease in cats associated with human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.09.23.309948
DO 10.1101/2020.09.23.309948
A1 Margaret J Hosie
A1 Ilaria Epifano
A1 Vanessa Herder
A1 Richard J Orton
A1 Andrew Stevenson
A1 Natasha Johnson
A1 Emma MacDonald
A1 Dawn Dunbar
A1 Michael McDonald
A1 Fiona Howie
A1 Bryn Tennant
A1 Darcy Herrity
A1 Ana Da Silva Filipe
A1 Daniel G Streicker
A1 Brian J Willett
A1 Pablo R Murcia
A1 Ruth F Jarrett
A1 David L Robertson
A1 William Weir
A1 the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/23/2020.09.23.309948.abstract
AB Two cats from different COVID-19-infected households in the UK were found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 from humans, demonstrated by immunofluorescence, in situ hybridisation, reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR and viral genome sequencing. Lung tissue collected post-mortem from cat 1 displayed pathological and histological findings consistent with viral pneumonia and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigens and RNA. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in an oropharyngeal swab collected from cat 2 that presented with rhinitis and conjunctivitis. High throughput sequencing of the virus from cat 2 revealed that the feline viral genome contained five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) compared to the nearest UK human SARS-CoV-2 sequence. An analysis of cat 2’s viral genome together with nine other feline-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences from around the world revealed no shared catspecific mutations. These findings indicate that human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with the infected cats developing mild or severe respiratory disease. Given the versatility of the new coronavirus, it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.