The Upper Respiratory Tract of Felids Is Highly Susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 Infection.
Int J Mol Sci
; 22(19)2021 Sep 30.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1444232
ABSTRACT
Natural or experimental infection of domestic cats and virus transmission from humans to captive predatory cats suggest that felids are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, it is unclear which cells and compartments of the respiratory tract are infected. To address this question, primary cell cultures derived from the nose, trachea, and lungs of cat and lion were inoculated with SARS-CoV-2. Strong viral replication was observed for nasal mucosa explants and tracheal air-liquid interface cultures, whereas replication in lung slices was less efficient. Infection was mainly restricted to epithelial cells and did not cause major pathological changes. Detection of high ACE2 levels in the nose and trachea but not lung further suggests that susceptibility of feline tissues to SARS-CoV-2 correlates with ACE2 expression. Collectively, this study demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 can efficiently replicate in the feline upper respiratory tract ex vivo and thus highlights the risk of SARS-CoV-2 spillover from humans to felids.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cats
/
COVID-19
/
Lions
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijms221910636
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