Anthropogenic Infection of Cats during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic
Margaret J. Hosie,
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann,
Katrin Hartmann,
Herman Egberink,
Uwe Truyen,
Diane D. Addie,
Sándor Belák,
Corine Boucraut-Baralon,
Tadeusz Frymus,
Albert Lloret,
Hans Lutz,
Fulvio Marsilio,
Maria Grazia Pennisi,
Séverine Tasker,
Etienne Thiry,
Karin Möstl
Affiliations
Margaret J. Hosie
MRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, Center for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Katrin Hartmann
Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Herman Egberink
Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Uwe Truyen
Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Diane D. Addie
Maison Zabal, 64470 Etchebar, France
Sándor Belák
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health (BVF), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Box 7036, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Corine Boucraut-Baralon
Scanelis Laboratory, 31770 Colomiers, France
Tadeusz Frymus
Department of Small Animal Diseases with Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, Center for Clinical Studies, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Fulvio Marsilio
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Maria Grazia Pennisi
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
Séverine Tasker
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
Etienne Thiry
Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, FARAH Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liège University, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Karin Möstl
Institute of Virology, Department for Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by a new coronavirus (CoV), SARS-CoV-2, which is closely related to SARS-CoV that jumped the animal–human species barrier and caused a disease outbreak in 2003. SARS-CoV-2 is a betacoronavirus that was first described in 2019, unrelated to the commonly occurring feline coronavirus (FCoV) that is an alphacoronavirus associated with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and has spread globally within a few months, resulting in the current pandemic. Felids have been shown to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Particularly in the Western world, many people live in very close contact with their pet cats, and natural infections of cats in COVID-19-positive households have been described in several countries. In this review, the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD), a scientifically independent board of experts in feline medicine from 11 European Countries, discusses the current status of SARS-CoV infections in cats. The review examines the host range of SARS-CoV-2 and human-to-animal transmissions, including infections in domestic and non-domestic felids, as well as mink-to-human/-cat transmission. It summarises current data on SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in domestic cats and the results of experimental infections of cats and provides expert opinions on the clinical relevance and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cats.
