SARS‐CoV‐2 B.1.1.7 variant of concern detected in a pet dog and cat after exposure to a person with COVID‐19 USA

spotlight topic:

SARS‐CoV‐2 B.1.1.7 variant of concern detected in a pet dog and cat after exposure to a person with COVID‐19, USA

Added 16 June 2021

Hamer, S.A. et al (2021) SARS‐CoV‐2 B.1.1.7 variant of concern detected in a pet dog and cat after exposure to a person with COVID‐19, USA. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.14122

This short communication reports on two pets which were confirmed to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant of concern (VOC). The pets were a dog and a cat from the same household, sampled two days after their owner tested positive for COVID-19. The oral, nasal and fur swabs for both pets tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by qRT-PCR and consensus whole-genome sequences from the dog and cat were 100% identical and matched the B.1.1.7 VOC. One month after initial detection of infection, the pets were re-tested twice at which time only the fur swabs (both pets) and oral swab (dog only) remained positive, and neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 were present in both animals. On initial visit, the animals were asymptomatic. Sneezing, by both pets was noted by the owner in the weeks between initial and follow-up testing.

The report highlights that given the continued emergence of new variants of concern which may have enhanced transmissibility and pathogenicity variants of concern from animals should remain the subject of ongoing research.

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.