Abstract
Companion animals are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and sporadic cases of pet infections have occurred in the United Kingdom. Here we present the first large-scale serological survey of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in dogs and cats in the UK. Results are reported for 688 sera (454 canine, 234 feline) collected by a large veterinary diagnostic laboratory for routine haematology during three time periods; pre-COVID-19 (January 2020), during the first wave of UK human infections (April–May 2020) and during the second wave of UK human infections (September 2020–February 2021). Both pre-COVID-19 sera and those from the first wave tested negative. However, in sera collected during the second wave, 1.4% (n = 4) of dogs and 2.2% (n = 2) of cats tested positive for neutralising antibodies. The low numbers of animals testing positive suggests pet animals are unlikely to be a major reservoir for human infection in the UK. However, continued surveillance of in-contact susceptible animals should be performed as part of ongoing population health surveillance initiatives.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 (Wu et al, 2020) and rapidly spread around the world
Experimental infections have shown that cats and, to a lesser extent, dogs are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and that cats can transmit the virus to other cats (Bosco-Lauth et al, 2020; Halfmann et al, 2020; Shi et al, 2020)
Seven samples were from animals with non-UK postcodes, two samples did not have species data, two samples were received as dogs but were from cats and were collected outside the two time periods of cat sample collection and eleven samples were missing postcodes; these samples were excluded
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 (Wu et al, 2020) and rapidly spread around the world. Evidence of infection of cats and dogs has been provided by the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in several studies worldwide (Fritz et al, 2021; Michelitsch et al, 2020, 2021; Patterson et al, 2020a; Stevanovic et al, 2021; Zhang et al, 2020). Infections in companion animals appear to have occurred as a result of human-to-animal transmission; the reported transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from farmed mink to in-contact humans, cats and dogs (Oude Munnink et al, 2021; van Aart et al, 2021) and the detection of the virus in stray dogs and cats (Dias et al, 2021; Villanueva-Saz et al, 2021), suggest it is important to continue surveillance in companion animals. We conducted a survey of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies in cats and dogs attending UK veterinary practices
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