OmniVira

Literature detail

Household Cases Suggest That Cats Belonging to Owners with COVID-19 Have a Limited Role in Virus Transmission.

Pierre Bessière1 Maxime Fusade-Boyer1 Mathilda Walch1 Laetitia Lèbre1 Jessie Brun2 Guillaume Croville1 Séverine Boullier3 Marie-Christine Cadiergues2,4 Jean-Luc Guérin1
Affiliations 4 institutions
  1. IHAP, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, 31300 Toulouse, France.
  2. Small Animal Clinic, Université de Toulouse, ENVT, 31300 Toulouse, France.
  3. InTheRes, Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, 31300 Toulouse, France.
  4. Infinity, Université de Toulouse, INSERM, CNRS, UT3, ENVT, 31300 Toulouse, France.
PMID 33919936 2021 Viruses eng epublish
PubMed DOI Browse context

Article

Publication summary

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for COVID-19 and spread rapidly following its emergence in Wuhan in 2019. Although cats are, among other domestic animals, susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, little is known about their epidemiological role in the dynamics of a household infection. In this study, we monitored five cats for viral shedding daily. Each cat was confined with its COVID-19 positive owners in separate households. Low loads of viral nucleic acid were found in two cats, but only one developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which suggests that cats have a limited role in COVID-19 epidemiology.

cats COVID-19 reverse-zoonosis Animals Animals, Domestic Antibodies, Neutralizing Cat Diseases Cats Chlorocebus aethiops COVID-19 Disease Susceptibility Humans Male Phylogeny SARS-CoV-2 Vero Cells Viral Zoonoses Virus Shedding

Structured evidence records

Evidence records

2 total
Serological Evidence 1 records
Serological Evidence Extraction confidence 0.85
Key finding

One out of five cats cohabiting with COVID-19-positive owners tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Virus
SARS-CoV-2
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

Low loads of viral nucleic acid were found in two cats, but only one developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which suggests that cats have a limited role in COVID-19 epidemiology.

Sample type
serum
Spillover Event 1 records
Spillover Event Extraction confidence 0.90
Key finding

SARS-CoV-2 transmission from infected humans to household cats was observed, with viral RNA and antibodies detected in cats exposed to COVID-19 positive owners.

Virus
SARS-CoV-2
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

Each cat was confined with its COVID-19 positive owners in separate households. Low loads of viral nucleic acid were found in two cats, but only one developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

Method
viral RNA detection; antibody detection
Study design
household investigation
Transmission direction
human-to-animal