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Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy.

Authors :
Patterson EI
Elia G
Grassi A
Giordano A
Desario C
Medardo M
Smith SL
Anderson ER
Prince T
Patterson GT
Lorusso E
Lucente MS
Lanave G
Lauzi S
Bonfanti U
Stranieri A
Martella V
Solari Basano F
Barrs VR
Radford AD
Agrimi U
Hughes GL
Paltrinieri S
Decaro N
Source :
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2020 Dec 04; Vol. 11 (1), pp. 6231. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Dec 04.
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 emerged from animals and is now easily transmitted between people. Sporadic detection of natural cases in animals alongside successful experimental infections of pets, such as cats, ferrets and dogs, raises questions about the susceptibility of animals under natural conditions of pet ownership. Here, we report a large-scale study to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection in 919 companion animals living in northern Italy, sampled at a time of frequent human infection. No animals tested PCR positive. However, 3.3% of dogs and 5.8% of cats had measurable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers, with dogs from COVID-19 positive households being significantly more likely to test positive than those from COVID-19 negative households. Understanding risk factors associated with this and their potential to infect other species requires urgent investigation.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2041-1723
Volume :
11
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Nature communications
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33277505
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20097-0