Respiratory disease in cats associated with human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK

Hosie, M. J.; Epifano, I.; Herder, V.; Orton, R.; Stevenson, A.; Johnson, N.; MacDonald, E.; Dunbar, D.; McDonald, M.; Howie, F.; Tennant, B.; Herrity, D.; Filipe, A. C.; Streicker, D. G.; Willett, B. J.; Murcia, P. R.; Jarrett, R. F.; Robertson, D. L.; Weir, W.; COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium,

doi:10.1101/2020.09.23.309948

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.09.23.309948

Respiratory disease in cats associated with human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK

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Abstract

Two cats from different COVID-19-infected households in the UK were found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 from humans, demonstrated by immunofluorescence, in situ hybridisation, reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR and viral genome sequencing. Lung tissue collected post-mortem from cat 1 displayed pathological and histological findings consistent with viral pneumonia and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigens and RNA. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in an oropharyngeal swab collected from cat 2 that presented with rhinitis and conjunctivitis. High throughput sequencing of the virus from cat 2 revealed that the feline viral genome contained five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) compared to the nearest UK human SARS-CoV-2 sequence. An analysis of cat 2s viral genome together with nine other feline-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences from around the world revealed no shared catspecific mutations. These findings indicate that human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with the infected cats developing mild or severe respiratory disease. Given the versatility of the new coronavirus, it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission.

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Hosie, M. J., Epifano, I., Herder, V., Orton, R., Stevenson, A., Johnson, N., MacDonald, E., Dunbar, D., McDonald, M., Howie, F., Tennant, B., Herrity, D., Filipe, A. C., Streicker, D. G., Willett, B. J., Murcia, P. R., Jarrett, R. F., Robertson, D. L., Weir, W., COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium,. 2020-09-23. Respiratory disease in cats associated with human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.23.309948

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