Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can infect many animal species, including minks, cats, and dogs. To gain insights into SARS-CoV-2 infections in cats and dogs, we developed and validated a set of serologic assays, including ELISA and virus neutralization. Evaluation of samples from animals before they acquired coronavirus disease and samples from cats roaming SARS-CoV-2–positive mink farms confirmed the suitability of these assays for specific antibody detection. Furthermore, our findings exclude SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein as an antigen for serologic screening of cat and dog samples. We analyzed 500 serum samples from domestic cats and dogs in the Netherlands during April–May 2020. We showed 0.4% of cats and 0.2% of dogs were seropositive. Although seroprevalence in cats and dogs that had unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposure was low during the first coronavirus disease wave, our data stress the need for development of continuous serosurveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in these 2 animal species.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can infect many animal species, including minks, cats, and dogs
Pre–COVID-19 Cohort Serum samples from the pre–COVID-19 cohort were tested against SARS-CoV-2 antigens to screen for potential cross-reactive antibodies elicited by endemic coronaviruses in cats and dogs because they are natural reservoirs of several coronaviruses (i.e., feline coronavirus (FCoV) [genus Alphacoronavirus] in cats, canine coronavirus [CCoV; genus Alphacoronavirus] and CRCoV [genus Betacoronavirus] in dogs) [20,22,23]
Many serum samples were positive for FCoV and bovine coronavirus (BCoV) S1, but all samples were negative for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S1 and RBD (Figure 1)
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can infect many animal species, including minks, cats, and dogs. Serum samples were first tested with ELISAs by using different antigens, including spike protein subunit (S1) of endemic feline and canine coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 antigens (S1, receptor binding domain [RBD], and nucleocapsid [N] protein), and subsequently analyzed by using virus neutralization titer (VN) assays with SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped virus. Using these assay platforms, we conducted serosurveillance study of SARSCoV-2 in cats and dogs of unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposure during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic (April–May 2020) in the Netherlands
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