Electrical engineering

Pathology

Disease

Snow leopard

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Biology

Pandemic

Phylogenetics

Zoology

Gene

Engineering

Predation

Virology

Ecology

Coronavirus

Panthera

Clade

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Genetics

Feces

Medicine

Transmission (telecommunications)

Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is one of seven coronaviruses known to infect humans. Different from other concerned coronavirus and influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 has a higher basic reproduction number and thus transmits more efficiently among hosts. Testing animals for SARS-CoV-2 may help decipher virus reservoirs, transmission and pathogenesis. Here, we report the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 in three snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in a zoo in Kentucky in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Sequence analysis revealed that snow leopard SARS-CoV-2 strains were non-variant B.1.2 lineage and closely correlated with human strains. One snow leopard shed SARS-CoV-2 in faeces up to 4 weeks. Based on clinical signs and viral shedding periods and levels in the three snow leopards, animal-to-animal transmission events could not be excluded. Further testing of SARS-CoV-2 in animals is needed.

Detection of SARS‐CoV‐2 clade B.1.2 in three snow leopards