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Pathogenesis, transmission and response to re-exposure of SARS-CoV-2 in domestic cats
spotlight topic:
COVID-19 and animals
Experimental studies
Pathogenesis, transmission and response to re-exposure of SARS-CoV-2 in domestic cats
Added 9 June 2020 | Updated 14 June 2021
Bosco-Rauth, A. M. et al. (2020) Experimental infection of domestic dogs and cats with SARS-CoV-2: Pathogenesis, transmission, and response to reexposure in cats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (42), pp. 26382-26388. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2013102117
This is another small experimental study looking at response to exposure and transmission to SARS-CoV-2 in both cats and dogs. There were three parts to this study.
Cats shed virus for up to 5 days with peak shedding at day 3
Viral levels from nasal swabs were higher than from oral swabs
All three cats had mild lung changes, including mild interstitial lymphocytic pneumonia with peribronchiolar and
perivascular lymphocytic cuffing and alveolar histiocytosis.
Inoculated cats shed virus as group 1.
Contact cats started shedding within 24 hours of being housed with infected cats but had more prolonged shedding with peak at 7 days post exposure
Virus was isolated from trachea, nasal turbinates and oesophagus but was not found in the lung or other organs of
either cat.
The authors conclude that cats are highly susceptible to subclinical infection, with a prolonged period of oral and nasal viral shedding, that is not accompanied by clinical signs. The study again shows that cats can become infected through direct contact with other infected cats. The authors also state that cats develop a robust neutralizing antibody response that prevented re-infection to a second viral challenge.
The dogs in this study did not appear to shed virus but did mount a low-level antibody response.