TY - JOUR
AU - Jones, Sarah
AU - Tyson, Grace B.
AU - Orton, Richard J.
AU - Smollett, Katherine
AU - Manna, Federica
AU - Kwok, Kirsty T. T.
AU - Suarez, Nicolas M.
AU - Logan, Nicola
AU - McDonald, Michael
AU - Bowie, Andrea
AU - da Silva Filipe, Ana
AU - Willett, Brian J.
AU - Weir, William
AU - Hosie, Margaret J.
PY - 2023
DA - August
TI - SARS-CoV-2 in domestic UK cats from Alpha to Omicron: Swab surveillance and case reports
JO - Viruses
VL - 15
IS - 8
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/v15081769
AB - Although domestic cats are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the role of the virus in causing feline disease is less well defined. We conducted a large-scale study to identify SARS-CoV-2 infections in UK pet cats, using active and passive surveillance. Remnant feline respiratory swab samples, submitted for other pathogen testing between May 2021 and February 2023, were screened using RT-qPCR. In addition, we appealed to veterinarians for swab samples from cats suspected of having clinical SARS-CoV-2 infections. Bespoke testing for SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies was also performed, on request, in suspected cases. One RT-qPCR-positive cat was identified by active surveillance (1/549, 0.18%), during the Delta wave (1/175, 0.57%). Passive surveillance detected one cat infected with the Alpha variant, and two of ten cats tested RT-qPCR-positive during the Delta wave. No cats tested RT-qPCR-positive after the emergence of Omicron BA.1 and its descendants although 374 were tested by active and eleven by passive surveillance. We describe four cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pet cats, identified by RT-qPCR and/or serology, that presented with a range of clinical signs, as well as their SARS-CoV-2 genom
PB - MDPI
UR - https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/303962/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER