Case reports

Published 20 April 2020 | Updated 17 February 2023

There have been a small number of reports of animals being infected with SARS-CoV-2. To date, all these animals appear to have been infected through contact with infected people. There is no evidence of humans being infected through contact with domestic animals.

Update

There continue to be further case reports of pet animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, in all cases these appear to come from households in which at least one person is infected with COVID-19.

A full list of case reports of confirmed infection of SARS-CoV-2 in animals (Events in animals tab) can be found on the OIE website.

SARS-ANI VIS: a global open access dataset of reported SARS-CoV-2 events in animals.  [Complexity Science Hub, Vienna] [online]. Available from: https://vis.csh.ac.at/sars-ani/#infections [Accessed 10 August 2022].

SARS-CoV-2 infection in captive hippos

Vercammen, F. et al. (2023)  SARS-CoV-2 infection in captive hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius), Belgium. Animals, 13 (2), no. 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020316

Published 17 February 2023

Variant B.1.1.529 (omicron)

Sánchez-Morales, L. et al. (2022) The Omicron (B.1.1.529) SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern also affects companion animals. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9, no. 940710.  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.940710

Published 15 September 2022

Variant B.1.617.2 (Delta)

Published 17 May 2022

Variant B.1.1.7 (alpha)

Published 1 February 2022

Hamsters Hong kong

Published 1 February 2022

Determining the role of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in the death of domestic pets: 10 cases (2020–2021)

Published 1 February 2022

COVID-19 cases that have been reported to USDA

Published 18 January 2021

• Dogs

• Cats

• Ferrets/Minks

• Livestock

• Wildlife and zoo

Dogs

• Padilla-Blanco, M. et al. (2022) Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a dog with hemorrhagic diarrhea. BMC Veterinary Research, 18, no. 370. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-022-03453-8

• Dog – New York

  Published 8 June 2020

• Dog 1 Pomeranian – Hong Kong

  Published 20 April 2020 | Updated 15 May 2020

• Dog 2 German Shepherd – Hong Kong

  Published 20 April 2020 | Updated 15 May 2020

• Dog with pulmonary fibrosis

  Published 17 May 2022

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Cats

• Sila, T et al. (2022) Suspected Cat-to-Human transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Thailand, July-September 2021. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 28 (7), pp.1485-1488. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2807.212605

• Detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 in respiratory samples from cats in the UK associated with human‐to‐cat transmission

  Published 15 June 2021

• Cats – UK

  Published 28 July 2020| Updated 14 June 2021

• Cat – Minnesota

  Published 8 June 2020

• Cat – Spain

  Published 18 May 2020 | Updated 2 September 2020

• 2 Cats – France

  Published 18 May 2020

• Cat – Germany

  Published 18 May 2020

• 2 Cats – New York

  Published 23 April 2020

• Cat – Hong Kong

  Published 20 April 2020

• Cat – Belgium

  Published 20 April 2020

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Ferrets/Minks

• Ferret – Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from human to domestic ferret

  Published 1 February 2022

• Mink – Denmark mutation

  Published 9 November 2020

• Mink – Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Sweden

  Published 27 April 2020 | Updated 9 November 2020

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Livestock

• Fiorito, F. et al. (2022) First description of serological evidence for SARS-CoV-2 in lactating cows. Animals, 12 (11) p. 1459. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12111459
• Wernike, K. et al. (2022) Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 suggestive of single events of spillover to cattle, Germany. Emerging Infectious Disease, 28 (9), pp. 1916-1918. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2809.220125

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Wildlife and zoo

• Allender, M.C. et al. (2022) Multi‐species outbreak of SARS‐CoV‐2 Delta variant in a zoological institution, with the detection in two new families of carnivores. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14662
• Pereira, A.H.B. et al. (2022) Natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in a free-ranging Black-Tailed Marmoset (Mico melanurus) from an urban area in Mid-West Brazil. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 194, pp. 22-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcpa.2022.03.005
• Wang, L. et al. (2022) Detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 clade B.1.2 in three snow leopards. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14625

• Black-tailed marmoset

  Published 13 June 2022

• Eurasian River Otter

  Published 17 May 2022

• Asiatic lions – India

  Published 27 September 2021

• Tiger & Lion – Bronx zoo

  Published 20 April 2020 | Updated 28 July 2020

• Gorillas – US

  Published 18 January 2021

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