Potential zoonotic sources of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Wendy K Jo,Edmilson Ferreira Oliveira‐Filho,Jan Felix Drexler,Klaus Osterrieder,Alex D Greenwood,Andrea Rasche

doi:10.1111/tbed.13872

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) causing coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) likely has evolutionary origins in other animals than humans based on genetically related viruses existing in rhinolophid bats and pangolins. Similar to other animal coronaviruses, SARS‐CoV‐2 contains a functional furin cleavage site in its spike protein, which may broaden the SARS‐CoV‐2 host range and affect pathogenesis. Whether ongoing zoonotic infections are possible in addition to efficient human‐to‐human transmission remains unclear. In contrast, human‐to‐animal transmission can occur based on evidence provided from natural and experimental settings. Carnivores, including domestic cats, ferrets and minks, appear to be particularly susceptible to SARS‐CoV‐2 in contrast to poultry and other animals reared as livestock such as cattle and swine. Epidemiologic evidence supported by genomic sequencing corroborated mink‐to‐human transmission events in farm settings. Airborne transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 between experimentally infected cats additionally substantiates the possibility of cat‐to‐human transmission. To evaluate the COVID‐19 risk represented by domestic and farmed carnivores, experimental assessments should include surveillance and health assessment of domestic and farmed carnivores, characterization of the immune interplay between SARS‐CoV‐2 and carnivore coronaviruses, determination of the SARS‐CoV‐2 host range beyond carnivores and identification of human risk groups such as veterinarians and farm workers. Strategies to mitigate the risk of zoonotic SARS‐CoV‐2 infections may have to be developed in a One Health framework and non‐pharmaceutical interventions may have to consider free‐roaming animals and the animal farming industry.

Highlights

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and quickly spread to more than 200 countries, killing over 1 million people worldwide as of October 2020
A study from Italy showed that 3.4% (13/388) of dogs and 3.9% (6/152) of cats living in SARS-CoV-2-positive households or in regions severely affected by COVID-19 sampled between March and May 2020, developed neutralizing antibodies against SARSCoV-2 (Patterson et al, 2020)
Experimental infections of SARS-CoV-2 in a wide range of non-primate animal species, including ferrets, domestic cats, raccoon dogs, Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), Syrian hamsters, New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Northern treeshrews (Tupaia belangeris), showed different degrees of susceptibility to the virus at inoculation doses of approximately 105 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) or 105 plaque-forming units (PFU) and intranasal, intratracheal and ocular transmission routes, which may be representative of natural infections during human-to-human transmission (Table 1) (Freuling et al, 2020; Halfmann et al, 2020; Munoz-Fontela et al, 2020; Mykytyn et al, 2020; Schlottau et al, 2020; Shi et al, 2020; Sia et al, 2020; Zhao et al, 2020)

Summary

Introduction

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and quickly spread to more than 200 countries, killing over 1 million people worldwide as of October 2020. N: 3.4%–14.7% virus seroprevalence, 8/24 seroconversion of animals roaming around SARS-CoV-2positive mink farms, 6/50 RT-PCRpositive cats living in households with COVID-19-positive patients, no or mild symptoms

Results

Conclusion