1. First detection and genome sequencing of SARS‐CoV‐2 in an infected cat in France
- Author
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Loic Comtet, Bernard Klonjkowski, Marine Dumarest, Valérie Caro, Stéphan Zientara, Philippe Pourquier, Jessica Vanhomwegen, Manon Delaplace, Aurélia Kwasiborski, Corinne Sailleau, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Véronique Hourdel, Sophie Le Poder, Alix Barbarino, Patrick Chevaillier, Virologie UMR1161 (VIRO), École nationale vétérinaire - Alfort (ENVA)-Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Environnement et Risques infectieux - Environment and Infectious Risks (ERI), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), Centre Collaborateur de l'OIE de Détection et identification chez l’homme des pathogènes animaux émergents et développement d’outils pour leur diagnostic / Collaborating Center for the Detection and identification in humans of emerging animal pathogens and development of tools for their diagnoses (CCOIE-OIECC), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Organisation Mondiale de la Santé Animale / World Organisation Animal Health [Paris] (OIE), Clinique Vétérinaire de la place Davout [Savigny-sur-Orge], Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vétérinaire d'Alfort [Maison Alfort] (CHUVA), École nationale vétérinaire - Alfort (ENVA)-PRES Université Paris-Est, IDvet [Grabels], Manon Delaplace is supported by a PhD fellowship from the DIM 1Health (Region Ile de France) and the Direction Générale de l’Enseignement et la Recherche from the French ministry of Agriculture (DGER)., The authors thank the veterinary practitioners for contributing to this study, the AFVAC (Association Française des Animaux de Compagnie) and the SNVEL of region Ile de France for their help. We are also grateful to Dr Meriadeg Le Gouil and Pr Astrid Vabret for helpful discussions. We thank Damien Hoinard for the technical support provided for the serological analysis., École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA)-Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut Pasteur [Paris], Organisation Mondiale de la Santé Animale / World Animal Health Information System (OIE-WAHIS)-Institut Pasteur [Paris], École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA)-PRES Université Paris-Est, Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA), Cellule d'Intervention Biologique d'Urgence (CIBU), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Spectrométrie de Masse structurale et protéomique, Institut Pasteur [Paris]-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IDvet, Signalisation et Mecanismes Moleculaires de l'Apoptose, and Université Bordeaux Segalen - Bordeaux 2-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)
- Subjects
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,040301 veterinary sciences ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,viruses ,next‐generation sequencing ,Cat Diseases ,DNA sequencing ,SARS‐CoV‐2 ,Serology ,0403 veterinary science ,03 medical and health sciences ,[SDV.MHEP.MI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Infectious diseases ,Animals ,[SDV.BBM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology ,Clade ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,Gene ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,CATS ,biology ,General Veterinary ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,SARS-CoV-2 ,fungi ,cats ,COVID-19 ,virus diseases ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,General Medicine ,Virology ,3. Good health ,body regions ,[SDV.MP.VIR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/Virology ,biology.protein ,luminex ,Female ,ELISA ,next-generation sequencing ,[SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,France ,Antibody ,pets ,Rapid Communication - Abstract
International audience; After its first description in Wuhan (China), SARS-CoV-2 the agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread worldwide. Previous studies suggested that pets could be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated the putative infection by SARS-CoV-2 in 22 cats and 11 dogs from owners previously infected or suspected of being infected by SARS-CoV-2. For each animal, rectal, nasopharyngeal swabs and serum were taken. Swabs were submitted to RT-qPCR assays targeting 2 genes of SARS-CoV-2. All dogs were tested SARS-CoV-2 negative. One cat was tested positive by RT-qPCR on rectal swab. Nasopharyngeal swabs from this animal were tested negative. This cat showed mild respiratory and digestive signs. Serological analysis confirms the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 in both serum samples taken 10 days apart. Genome sequence analysis revealed that the cat SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the phylogenetic clade A2a like most of the French human SARS-CoV-2. This study reports for the first time the natural infection of a cat in France (near Paris) probably through their owners. There is currently no evidence that cats can spread COVID-19 and owners should not abandon their pets or compromise their welfare.
- Published
- 2020
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