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. 2025 Jul;97(7):e70496.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.70496.

Cross-Species Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 From Dogs to Hamsters and Pathological Changes in the Brain

Dong-Hwi Kim  1   2 , Kyu-Sung Kim  3   4 , Jae-Hyeong Kim  1 , Kyu-Beom Lim  1 , Min-Tae Jeon  3 , Joong-Bok Lee  1   5 , Seung-Yong Park  1   5 , Chang-Seon Song  1   5 , Sang-Won Lee  1   5 , Dong-Hun Lee  1 , Yang-Kyu Choi  6 , Yeun-Kyung Shin  7 , Do-Geun Kim  3   4 , In-Soo Choi  1   5   8
Affiliations

Cross-Species Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 From Dogs to Hamsters and Pathological Changes in the Brain

Dong-Hwi Kim et al. J Med Virol. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19 causative agent, infects several species. Although COVID-19 was reported in some dogs, their roles in transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to other species remain unclear. We investigated the ability of COVID-19 infected dogs to transmit SARS-CoV-2 virus to hamsters and assessed associated pulmonary and neuropathological changes in hamsters. SARS-CoV-2-negative hamsters were placed in close proximity to infected dogs, and viral infection in hamsters was confirmed by infection-associated histopathological changes. SARS-CoV-2 exposure led to notable neurological effects in hamsters, including blood-brain barrier damage, activated immune response, and neurodegenerative changes. This study is the first one to confirm that dogs can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to other species and demonstrates that cross-species viral transmission can contribute to central nervous system pathology and promote neurodegenerative processes. These findings underscore the importance of further investigating dog-to-other species transmission pathways and early-stage neuropathological impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: SARS coronavirus, virus classification; horizontal transmission, epidemiology; infection.

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