TY - JOUR T1 - One Health Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Seropositivity among Pets in Households with Confirmed Human COVID-19 Cases — Utah and Wisconsin, 2020 JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.04.11.439379 SP - 2021.04.11.439379 AU - Grace W. Goryoka AU - Caitlin M. Cossaboom AU - Radhika Gharpure AU - Patrick Dawson AU - Cassandra Tansey AU - John Rossow AU - Victoria Mrotz AU - Jane Rooney AU - Mia Torchetti AU - Christina M. Loiacono AU - Mary L. Killian AU - Melinda Jenkins-Moore AU - Ailam Lim AU - Keith Poulsen AU - Dan Christensen AU - Emma Sweet AU - Dallin Peterson AU - Anna L. Sangster AU - Erin L. Young AU - Kelly F. Oakeson AU - Dean Taylor AU - Amanda Price AU - Tair Kiphibane AU - Rachel Klos AU - Darlene Konkle AU - Sanjib Bhattacharyya AU - Trivikram Dasu AU - Victoria T. Chu AU - Nathaniel M. Lewis AU - Krista Queen AU - Jing Zhang AU - Anna Uehara AU - Elizabeth A. Dietrich AU - Suxiang Tong AU - Hannah L. Kirking AU - Jeffrey R. Doty AU - Laura S. Murrell AU - Jessica R. Spengler AU - Anne Straily AU - Ryan Wallace AU - Casey Barton Behravesh Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/13/2021.04.11.439379.abstract N2 - Background Approximately 67% of U.S. households have pets. Limited data are available on SARS-CoV-2 in pets. We assessed SARS-CoV-2 infection in pet cohabitants as a sub-study of an ongoing COVID-19 household transmission investigation.Methods Mammalian pets from households with ≥1 person with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were eligible for inclusion from April–May 2020. Demographic/exposure information, oropharyngeal, nasal, rectal, and fur swabs, feces, and blood were collected from enrolled pets and tested by rRT-PCR and virus neutralization assays.Findings We enrolled 37 dogs and 19 cats from 34 of 41 eligible households. All oropharyngeal, nasal, and rectal swabs tested negative by rRT-PCR; one dog’s fur swabs (2%) tested positive by rRT-PCR at the first animal sampling. Among 47 pets with serological results from 30 households, eight (17%) pets (4 dogs, 4 cats) from 6 (20%) households had detectable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. In households with a seropositive pet, the proportion of people with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 was greater (median 79%; range: 40–100%) compared to households with no seropositive pet (median 37%; range: 13–100%) (p=0.01). Thirty-three pets with serologic results had frequent daily contact (≥1 hour) with the human index patient before the person’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Of these 33 pets, 14 (42%) had decreased contact with the human index patient after diagnosis and none (0%) were seropositive; of the 19 (58%) pets with continued contact, 4 (21%) were seropositive.Interpretations Seropositive pets likely acquired infection from humans, which may occur more frequently than previously recognized. People with COVID-19 should restrict contact with animals.Funding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of AgricultureCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -