Engineering

Biology

Pathogen

Virology

Immunology

CATS

Immune system

Internal medicine

Medicine

Transmission (telecommunications)

Virus

Electrical engineering

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance SARS-CoV-2 is an emerging pathogen that has already had catastrophic consequences on the health and well-being of people worldwide. As a zoonotic virus, the implications for animal populations are largely unknown. This manuscript describes a pilot study in which domestic cats and dogs were assessed for their susceptibility to infection. While neither species developed clinical disease in this study, cats shed infectious virus for up to 5 d and infected naive cats via direct contact, while dogs do not appear to shed virus. Cats that were reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 mounted an effective immune response and did not become reinfected. These studies have important implications for animal health and suggest that cats may be a good model for vaccine development.

Experimental infection of domestic dogs and cats with SARS-CoV-2: Pathogenesis, transmission, and response to reexposure in cats