Published in

National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 40(117), p. 24790-24793, 2020

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2010817117

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

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Significance COVID-19 is the most devastating pandemic in recent history. As with many emerging infectious diseases, it is of zoonotic origin, meaning that animals played a major role in the initial transmission events. Despite SARS-CoV-2 being highly adapted to jump from human to human, several animal species are naturally susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, including pets such as cats. In the present report, a cat from a family with several relatives affected by COVID-19 developed severe respiratory clinical signs, leading to humanitarian euthanasia. Due to the suspicion of a potential COVID-19 infection in the cat, different antemortem and postmortem tests were assayed. The clinical condition was finally attributed to a feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but the animal was also infected by SARS-CoV-2.