Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a cat owned by a COVID-19-affected patient in Spain.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of COVID-19, is considered a zoonotic pathogen mainly transmitted human to human. Few reports indicate that pets may be exposed to the virus. The present report describes a cat suffering from severe respiratory distress and thrombocytopenia living with a family with several members affected by COVID-19. Clinical signs of the cat prompted humanitarian euthanasia and a detailed postmortem investigation to assess whether a COVID-19-like disease was causing the condition. Necropsy results showed the animal suffered from feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severe pulmonary edema and thrombosis. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was only detected in nasal swab, nasal turbinates, and mesenteric lymph node, but no evidence of histopathological lesions compatible with a viral infection were detected. The cat seroconverted against SARS-CoV-2, further evidencing a productive infection in this animal. We conclude that the animal had a subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection concomitant to an unrelated cardiomyopathy that led to euthanasia.

• Authors: Joaquim Segalés, Mariona Puig, Jordi Rodon, Carlos Avila-Nieto, Jorge Carrillo, Guillermo Cantero, Maria Teresa Terrón, Sílvia Cruz, Mariona Parera, Marc Noguera-Julián, Nuria Izquierdo-Useros, Víctor Guallar, Enric Vidal, Alfonso Valencia, Ignacio Blanco, Julià Blanco, Bonaventura Clotet, Júlia Vergara-Alert
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A) Vol. 117 Issue 40 Pg. 24790-24793 (10 06 2020) ISSN: 1091-6490 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32948692 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Topics

• Animals
• Betacoronavirus (isolation & purification)
• COVID-19
• Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic (pathology, veterinary, virology)
• Cats
• Coronavirus Infections (complications, pathology, veterinary)
• Fatal Outcome
• Humans
• Incidental Findings
• Pandemics (veterinary)
• Pneumonia, Viral (complications, pathology, veterinary)
• SARS-CoV-2