Abstract
Discovered in 2003 at the Royal Veterinary College, London, canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV) is a betacoronavirus of dogs and major cause of canine infectious respiratory disease complex. Generally causing mild clinical signs of persistent cough and nasal discharge, the virus is highly infectious and is most prevalent in rehoming shelters worldwide where dogs are often closely housed and infections endemic. As the world grapples with the current COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community is searching for a greater understanding of a novel virus infecting humans. Similar to other betacoronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 appears to have crossed the species barrier, most likely from bats, clearly reinforcing the One Health concept. Veterinary pathologists are familiar with coronavirus infections in animals, and now more than ever this knowledge and understanding, based on many years of veterinary research, could provide valuable answers for our medical colleagues. Here I review the early research on CRCoV where seroprevalence, early immune response, and pathogenesis are some of the same key questions being asked by scientists globally during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Highlights
Discovered in 2003 at the Royal Veterinary College, London, canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV) is a betacoronavirus of dogs and major cause of canine infectious respiratory disease complex
In 2004, I began my PhD studies on a novel respiratory coronavirus of dogs that had been discovered the previous year by a colleague and board-certified veterinary pathologist, Dr Kerstin Erles, at the Royal Veterinary College, London.[5]
In spring 2020 with the global COVID-19 pandemic well established, we find ourselves “locked down” or “sheltering in place” but asking the very same questions of another novel betacoronavirus infecting the respiratory tract of humans, as I did with dogs in 2004
Summary
From our initial work investigating the possible etiological agents of CIRDC in a large UK rehoming center, we demonstrated a strong association between exposure to CRCoV and the development of respiratory disease in dogs entering the shelter. Seroprevalence gives an indication of previous viral infection, not active infection, and importantly we are still unclear how long antibodies to CRCoV remain detectable following infection This is a particular problem for animal shelters—the very places where, largely due to the efficient spread between closely housed dogs, the virus is most prevalent. Antibodies to CRCoV were detected in 99% of dogs within 3 weeks of entry to the large UK shelter, versus only 30% on entry, indicating a highly contagious virus.[3] Spread of the infection does not require direct contact between animals, and inhalation of air-borne respiratory secretions is the most likely route of transmission. By way of an aside, a recent study from Italy demonstrated 100% identity between one of the main antigenic epitopes (and >80% for 2 other epitopes) of the CRCoV spike protein and SARS-CoV-2, highlighting how studying the immune response to this natural infection in the dog could offer useful insights on COVID-19.16
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