Search

The epidemiological role of domestic animals in the spread and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans has been investigated in recent reports, but some aspects need to be further clarified. To date, only in rare cases have dogs and cats living with COVID-19 patients been found to harbour SARS-CoV-2, with no evidence of pet-to-human transmission. The aim of the present study was to verify whether dogs and cats act as passive mechanical carriers of SARS-CoV-2 when they live in close contact with COVID-19 patients. Cutaneous and interdigital swabs collected from 48 dogs and 15 cats owned by COVID-19 patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by qRT-PCR. The time elapsed between owner swab positivity and sample collection from pets ranged from 1 to 72 days, with a median time of 23 days for dogs and 39 days for cats. All samples tested negative, suggesting that pets do not passively carry SARS-CoV-2 on their hair and pads, and thus they likely do not play an important role in the virus transmission to humans. This data may contribute to confirming that the direct contact with the hair and pads of pets does not represent a route for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Infections with human papillomaviruses (HPVs) belonging to the genus Betapapillomavirus have been linked to the development of non-melanoma skin cancer. Although persistence is expected, systematic investigation of this aspect of betapapillomavirus (beta-PV) infection has not been conducted. This study investigated the prevalence and persistence of 25 known beta-PV types in the skin of immunocompetent individuals. Over a 2 year period, eight consecutive plucked eyebrow hair samples taken from 23 healthy individuals were analysed for the presence of beta-PV DNA. Using a recently published general beta-PV PCR and genotyping method, 61% of the individuals were beta-PV DNA positive for one or more types at intake, whereas during follow-up this percentage rose to 96%. HPV23 was the most frequently detected beta-PV type. Type-specific beta-PV DNA was detected over 6 months or longer in 74% of the individuals. In 57% of the individuals, DNA from multiple beta-PV types was detected simultaneously for 6 months or longer. When the detection intervals of all beta-PV type-specific infections in the study population were considered, a substantial proportion, 48%, lasted at least half a year. The consistent beta-PV patterns found over time in most individuals strongly suggested that beta-PV DNA detection in plucked eyebrow hairs reveals true beta-PV infection. If the minimum interval of detection was set at 6 months, persistent beta-PV infections were found in the majority of the study population (74%).

Measles skin rash was immunohistochemically examined in an effort to detect virus antigen in skin samples taken from a 15-year-old girl with measles. A sectioned specimen obtained by punch biopsy from a 2nd-day skin lesion showed localized parakeratosis and acanthosis with multinucleated giant cells in the epidermis, thickening and cellular edema of epithelia in the hair follicles, and vascular dilation in the papillary plexus. Measles virus antigen was detected by ABC immunoperoxidase in the epidermis, follicular epithelia, and lympho-histiocytic cell infiltrates in the upper of the dermis. This rash deemed to be caused in part by direct viral infection of the epidermal cells.