Title:
Respiratory disease in cats associated with human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK
Authors:
Margaret J Hosie, Ilaria Epifano, Vanessa Herder, Richard Orton, Andrew Stevenson, Natasha Johnson, Emma MacDonald, Dawn Dunbar, Michael McDonald, Fiona Howie, Bryn Tennant, Darcy Herrity, Ana C Filipe, Daniel G Streicker, Brian J Willett, Pablo R Murcia, Ruth F Jarrett, David L Robertson & William Weir
Published:
bioRxiv, 23 September 2020
[Keep in mind that is a preprint article and not yet peer reviewed.]
From the abstract:
Two cats from different COVID-19-infected households in the UK were found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 from humans, demonstrated by immunofluorescence, in situ hybridisation, reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR and viral genome sequencing. Lung tissue collected post-mortem from cat 1 displayed pathological and histological findings consistent with viral pneumonia and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigens and RNA. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in an oropharyngeal swab collected from cat 2 that presented with rhinitis and conjunctivitis.