High prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in cats recently exposed to human cases

Article
Version publiée / Version of Record

Fichiers

Daigle et al 2024.pdf (2.98 MB)

Date de publication

2024-07-09

Autrices et auteurs

Identifiant ORCID de l’auteur

Contributrices et contributeurs

Direction de recherche

Publié dans

BMC Veterinary research

Date de la Conférence

Lieu de la Conférence

Éditeur

BMC

Cycle d'études

Programme

Affiliation

Université de Montréal. Faculté de médecine vétérinaire

Mots-clés

  • Cats
  • COVID-19
  • Exposure
  • One Health
  • Prevalence
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Households

Organisme subventionnaire

Résumé

Résumé

Background The primary objective of this cross-sectional study, conducted in Québec and Bristish Columbia (Canada) between February 2021 and January 2022, was to measure the prevalence of viral RNA in oronasal and rectal swabs and serum antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) amongst cats living in households with at least one confirmed human case. Secondary objectives included a description of potential risk factors for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and an estimation of the association between the presence of viral RNA in swabs as well as SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and clinical signs. Oronasal and rectal swabs and sera were collected from 55 cats from 40 households at most 15 days after a human case confirmation, and at up to two follow-up visits. A RT-qPCR assay and an ELISA were used to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in swabs and serum SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies, respectively. Prevalence and 95% Bayesian credibility intervals (BCI) were calculated, and associations were evaluated using prevalence ratio and 95% BCI obtained from Bayesian mixed log-binomial models. Results Nine (0.16; 95% BCI = 0.08–0.28) and 38 (0.69; 95% BCI = 0.56–0.80) cats had at least one positive RT-qPCR and at least one positive serological test result, respectively. No risk factor was associated with the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies. The prevalence of clinical signs suggestive of COVID-19 in cats, mainly sneezing, was 2.12 (95% BCI = 1.03–3.98) times higher amongst cats with detectable viral RNA compared to those without. Conclusions We showed that cats develop antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 when exposed to recent human cases, but detection of viral RNA on swabs is rare, even when sampling occurs soon after confirmation of a human case. Moreover, cats with detectable levels of virus showed clinical signs more often than cats without signs, which can be useful for the management of such cases.

Table des matières

Notes

Notes

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/1866/33549

DOI

10.1186/s12917-024-04150-4

Autre version linguistique

Ensemble de données lié

Licence

ATTRIBUTION 4.0 INTERNATIONAL CC BY 4.0 Deed

Collections

Faculté de médecine vétérinaire – Travaux et publications

Approbation

Évaluation

Complété par

Référencé par

Ce document diffusé sur Papyrus est la propriété exclusive des titulaires des droits d'auteur et est protégé par la Loi sur le droit d'auteur (L.R.C. (1985), ch. C-42). Sauf si le document est diffusé sous une licence Creative Commons, il ne peut être utilisé que dans le cadre d'une utilisation équitable et non commerciale comme le prévoit la Loi (i.e. à des fins d'étude privée ou de recherche, de critique ou de compte-rendu). Pour toute autre utilisation, une autorisation écrite des titulaires des droits d'auteur sera nécessaire.