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[Preprint]. 2020 Jul 23:2020.07.21.214346.
doi: 10.1101/2020.07.21.214346.

Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy

E I Patterson, G Elia, A Grassi, A Giordano, C Desario, M Medardo, S L Smith, E R Anderson, T Prince, G T Patterson, E Lorusso, M S Lucente, G Lanave, S Lauzi, U Bonfanti, A Stranieri, V Martella, F Solari Basano, V R Barrs, A D Radford, U Agrimi, G L Hughes, S Paltrinieri, N Decaro

Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy

E I Patterson et al. bioRxiv. .

Update in

  • Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy.
    Patterson EI, Elia G, Grassi A, Giordano A, Desario C, Medardo M, Smith SL, Anderson ER, Prince T, Patterson GT, Lorusso E, Lucente MS, Lanave G, Lauzi S, Bonfanti U, Stranieri A, Martella V, Solari Basano F, Barrs VR, Radford AD, Agrimi U, Hughes GL, Paltrinieri S, Decaro N. Patterson EI, et al. Nat Commun. 2020 Dec 4;11(1):6231. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20097-0. Nat Commun. 2020. PMID: 33277505 Free PMC article.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 originated in animals and is now easily transmitted between people. Sporadic detection of natural cases in animals alongside successful experimental infections of pets, such as cats, ferrets and dogs, raises questions about the susceptibility of animals under natural conditions of pet ownership. Here we report a large-scale study to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection in 817 companion animals living in northern Italy, sampled at a time of frequent human infection. No animals tested PCR positive. However, 3.4% of dogs and 3.9% of cats had measurable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers, with dogs from COVID-19 positive households being significantly more likely to test positive than those from COVID-19 negative households. Understanding risk factors associated with this and their potential to infect other species requires urgent investigation.

One sentence summary: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in pets from Italy.

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