key: cord-1045886-tmio2p2r
authors: nan
title: Susceptibility of selected domestic animals to COVID-19
date: 2020-07-07
journal: Adv Small Anim Med Surg
DOI: 10.1016/j.asams.2020.07.004
sha: ed190417138fa5959e0989b5757e98de0f58c8b4
doc_id: 1045886
cord_uid: tmio2p2r

nan

Background In late December 2019, an unusual pneumonia emerged in humans in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread internationally, raising global public health concerns. The causative pathogen was identified as a novel coronavirus that was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the basis of a phylogenetic analysis of related coronaviruses by the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Virus Taxonomy. The disease it causes was subsequently designated COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Despite tremendous efforts to control the COVID-19 outbreak, the disease is still spreading. SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have originated in bats; however, the intermediate animal sources of the virus are completely unknown. The emerging situation raises many urgent questions. Could the widely disseminated viruses transmit to other animal species, which then become reservoirs of infection? The SARS-CoV-2 infection has a wide clinical spectrum in humans, from mild infection to death, but how does the virus behave in other animals?

To determine the behavior of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and infection in dogs, cats, ferrets, pigs, chickens, and ducks.

All experiments with infectious SARS-CoV-2 were performed in the biosafety level 4 and animal biosafety level 4 facilities in the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute (HVRI) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). Ferrets are commonly used as an animal model for respiratory viruses that infected humans. We therefore tested the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets. Cats and dogs are in close contact with humans, and therefore it is important to understand their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 for COVID-19 control. We also investigated the susceptibility of pigs, chickens, and ducks to SARS-CoV-2 by using the same strategy as that used to assess dogs.

We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, but efficiently in ferrets and cats. We found that the virus transmits in cats via respiratory droplets. Our study provides important insights into the animal reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 and animal management for COVID-19 control.

In summary, we found that ferrets and cats are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, dogs have low susceptibility, and livestock including pigs, chickens, and ducks are not susceptible to the virus.

10 figures, 1 table, 30 references.

The topic of this study, the susceptibility of some domestic animals to COVID19, is very timely and very important. This study, as noted by the publisher, has not yet been peer-reviewed. Because of the rapidly moving progression of the worldwide pandemic caused by COVID19, this is, for the most part, all we have available at this time, but is still very valuable. The information gathered about the possible transmission of the virus between species is very important as we determine the many steps needed to slow and hopefully stop the spread in the human population. It is also a very important study in that further studies by these and other researchers can build on what has been found here. Through no fault of the authors, the findings of the study may be extrapolated to mean more than what was concluded or be applied more broadly than what is intended.

Knowing that the virus can be transmitted to ferrets and cats is valuable as we

and animals, understanding the virus's behavior in people and animals and as we explore animal models for further research

Susceptibility of ferrets, cats, dogs, and different domestic animals to SARS-coronavirus-2. BioRxiv