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Frequent Infection of Cats With SARS-CoV-2 Irrespective of Pre-Existing Enzootic Coronavirus Immunity, Brazil 2020.

Edmilson F de Oliveira-Filho1 Otávio V de Carvalho2 Ianei O Carneiro3 Fagner D'ambroso Fernandes4 Sara Nunes Vaz5 Célia Pedroso5 Lilian Gonzalez-Auza1 Victor Carvalho Urbieta1 Arne Kühne1 Rafaela Mayoral3 Wendy K Jo1 Andrés Moreira-Soto1 Chantal B E M Reusken6 Christian Drosten1 Carlos Brites5 Klaus Osterrieder7 Eduardo Martins Netto5 Luiz Eduardo Ristow2 Rita de Cassia Maia8 Fernanda S Flores Vogel4 Nadia Rossi de Almeida3 Carlos Roberto Franke3 Jan Felix Drexler1,9
Affiliations 9 institutions
  1. Institute of Virology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
  2. Tecsa Laboratorios, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
  3. School of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
  4. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.
  5. Disease Research Laboratory, University Hospital Professor Edgard Santos, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
  6. Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, Netherlands.
  7. Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
  8. Veterinary Medicine Department, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
  9. German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Associated Partner Site Charité, Berlin, Germany.
PMID 35450070 2022 Front Immunol eng epublish
PubMed DOI Browse context

Article

Publication summary

Carnivores such as cats and minks are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Brazil is a global COVID-19 hot spot and several cases of human-to-cat transmission have been documented. We investigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by testing 547 domestic cats sampled between July-November 2020 from seven states in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Brazil. Moreover, we investigated whether immune responses elicited by enzootic coronaviruses affect SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats. We found infection with significantly higher neutralizing antibody titers against the Gamma variant of concern, endemic in Brazil during 2020, than against an early SARS-CoV-2 B.1 isolate (p<0.0001), validating the use of Gamma for further testing. The overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Brazilian cats during late 2020 validated by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT<sub>90</sub>) was 7.3% (95% CI, 5.3-9.8). There was no significant difference in SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in cats between Brazilian states, suggesting homogeneous infection levels ranging from 4.6% (95% CI, 2.2-8.4) to 11.4% (95% CI, 6.7-17.4; p=0.4438). Seroprevalence of the prototypic cat coronavirus Feline coronavirus (FCoV) in a PRNT<sub>90</sub> was high at 33.3% (95% CI, 24.9-42.5) and seroprevalence of Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) was low at 1.7% (95% CI, 0.2-5.9) in a PRNT<sub>90</sub>. Neutralizing antibody titers were significantly lower for FCoV than for SARS-CoV-2 (p=0.0001), consistent with relatively more recent infection of cats with SARS-CoV-2. Neither the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers (p=0.6390), nor SARS-CoV-2 infection status were affected by FCoV serostatus (p=0.8863). Our data suggest that pre-existing immunity against enzootic coronaviruses neither prevents, nor enhances SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats. High SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence already during the first year of the pandemic substantiates frequent infection of domestic cats and raises concerns on potential SARS-CoV-2 mutations escaping human immunity upon spillback.

cats (felis catus) coronavirus cross-reactivity SARS-CoV-2 serology zoonosis COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 Animals Antibodies, Neutralizing Brazil Cats Cattle Seroepidemiologic Studies SARS-CoV-2 variants

Structured evidence records

Evidence records

5 total
Serological Evidence 3 records
Serological Evidence Extraction confidence 1.00
Key finding

Brazilian domestic cats showed 7.3% SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence by PRNT90, indicating widespread infection and exposure during 2020.

Virus
SARS-CoV-2
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

The overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Brazilian cats during late 2020 validated by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90) was 7.3% (95% CI, 5.3-9.8).

Method
plaque reduction neutralization test
Sample type
serum
Serological Evidence Extraction confidence 1.00
Key finding

Feline coronavirus seroprevalence in Brazilian cats was 33.3% by PRNT90, showing common enzootic coronavirus antibody presence.

Virus
FCoV
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

Seroprevalence of the prototypic cat coronavirus Feline coronavirus (FCoV) in a PRNT90 was high at 33.3% (95% CI, 24.9-42.5).

Method
plaque reduction neutralization test
Sample type
serum
Serological Evidence Extraction confidence 1.00
Key finding

Bovine coronavirus antibodies were detected in 1.7% of tested cats by PRNT90, indicating occasional cross-species exposure.

Virus
BCoV
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

Seroprevalence of Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) was low at 1.7% (95% CI, 0.2-5.9) in a PRNT90.

Method
plaque reduction neutralization test
Sample type
serum
Spillover Event 1 records
Spillover Event Extraction confidence 0.95
Key finding

Documented human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred in Brazil during 2020.

Virus
SARS-CoV-2
Location
Brazil Brazil
Supporting text

Brazil is a global COVID-19 hot spot and several cases of human-to-cat transmission have been documented.

Method
serology; plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90)
Study design
serological survey
Transmission direction
human-to-animal
Geographic raw
Brazil
Country inferred
Brazil
Zoonotic Surveillance 1 records
Zoonotic Surveillance Extraction confidence 0.90
Key finding

Serological surveillance of 547 domestic cats across Brazil in 2020 detected a 7.3% SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence by PRNT90, indicating frequent infection among cats.

Virus
SARS-CoV-2
Location
Brazil Brazil
Supporting text

We investigated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 by testing 547 domestic cats sampled between July-November 2020 from seven states in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Brazil. The overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Brazilian cats during late 2020 validated by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90) was 7.3%.

Method
serology; plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT90)
Geographic raw
Brazil
Country inferred
Brazil