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. 2022 Sep;69(5):3001-3007.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.14173. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats and dogs in infected mink farms

Anna E van Aart  1 , Francisca C Velkers  2 , Egil A J Fischer  2 , Els M Broens  3 , Herman Egberink  4 , Shan Zhao  4 , Marc Engelsma  5 , Renate W Hakze-van der Honing  5 , Frank Harders  5 , Myrna M T de Rooij  1 , Carien Radstake  6 , Paola A Meijer  2 , Bas B Oude Munnink  7 , Jan de Rond  8 , Reina S Sikkema  7 , Arco N van der Spek  9 , Marcel Spierenburg  9 , Wendy J Wolters  2 , Robert-Jan Molenaar  8 , Marion P G Koopmans  7 , Wim H M van der Poel  5 , Arjan Stegeman  2 , Lidwien A M Smit  1
Affiliations

SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats and dogs in infected mink farms

Anna E van Aart et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Animals like mink, cats and dogs are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the Netherlands, 69 out of 127 mink farms were infected with SARS-CoV-2 between April and November 2020 and all mink on infected farms were culled after SARS-CoV-2 infection to prevent further spread of the virus. On some farms, (feral) cats and dogs were present. This study provides insight into the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-positive cats and dogs in 10 infected mink farms and their possible role in transmission of the virus. Throat and rectal swabs of 101 cats (12 domestic and 89 feral cats) and 13 dogs of 10 farms were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using PCR. Serological assays were performed on serum samples from 62 adult cats and all 13 dogs. Whole Genome Sequencing was performed on one cat sample. Cat-to-mink transmission parameters were estimated using data from all 10 farms. This study shows evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in 12 feral cats and 2 dogs. Eleven cats (18%) and two dogs (15%) tested serologically positive. Three feral cats (3%) and one dog (8%) tested PCR-positive. The sequence generated from the cat throat swab clustered with mink sequences from the same farm. The calculated rate of mink-to-cat transmission showed that cats on average had a chance of 12% (95%CI 10%-18%) of becoming infected by mink, assuming no cat-to-cat transmission. As only feral cats were infected it is most likely that infections in cats were initiated by mink, not by humans. Whether both dogs were infected by mink or humans remains inconclusive. This study presents one of the first reports of interspecies transmission of SARS-CoV-2 that does not involve humans, namely mink-to-cat transmission, which should also be considered as a potential risk for spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; cats; dogs; epidemiology; mink; one health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on selected nucleotide sequence of full length SARS‐CoV‐2 from the GISAID EpiCoV Database (https://www.gisaid.org/) and the sequences from six mink farms. The mink sequences are blue and the cat sequence is red. The tree is rooted at Wuhan‐Hu‐1. Bootstrap support values above 50 are indicated at the corresponding branch
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • SARS-CoV-2 infection in farmed fur animals.
    Deng J, Huo N, Chen Y, Wu H, Bai J, Li X, Liu Y, Tian K. Deng J, et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2021 Nov;68(6):2998-2999. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14229. Epub 2021 Jul 16. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2021. PMID: 34235893 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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