Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a cat owned by a COVID-19-affected patient in Spain

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of COVID-19, is considered a zoonotic pathogen mainly transmitted human to human. Few reports indicate that pets may be exposed to the virus. The present report describes a cat suffering from severe respiratory distress and thrombocytopenia living with a family with several members affected by COVID-19. Clinical signs of the cat prompted humanitarian euthanasia and a detailed postmortem investigation to assess whether a COVID-19-like disease was causing the condition. Necropsy results showed the animal suffered from feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severe pulmonary edema and thrombosis. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was only detected in nasal swab, nasal turbinates, and mesenteric lymph node, but no evidence of histopathological lesions compatible with a viral infection were detected. The cat seroconverted against SARS-CoV-2, further evidencing a productive infection in this animal. We conclude that the animal had a subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection concomitant to an unrelated cardiomyopathy that led to euthanasia.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cat; transmission.

Fig. 1.

Analysis of humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 in infected cats. The presence of anti−SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was evaluated in serum samples from two SARS-CoV-2−infected (C1 and C2) and four uninfected (HC1, HC2, HC3, and HC4) cats. Corrected OD after background subtraction and serum dilution factor is shown in y and x axes, respectively. Four SARS-CoV-2 antigens were evaluated: (A) whole spike, (B) spike S2-subunit, (C) spike RBD, and (D) nucleocapsid protein.

Fig. 2.

Chronological events relating the clinical evolution of C1 in respect to the cat owners’ situation; besides the diagnosis of COVID-19 of the initial owner, no SARS-CoV-2 testing was applied to relative 1 (R1), R2, and R3.