Epidemiological monitoring to ascertain if SARS-CoV-2 infects dogs and cats

ABSTRACT

2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of coronavirus that has never been found in humans. SARS-CoV-2 is a beta coronavirus. whereas the coronaviruses infecting pet dogs and cats arise mainly from a-coronaviruses. Whether SARS-CoV-2 infects cats, dogs and other pets is an important public-health issue during this time. In the present study, respiratory-tract symptoms in 20 pet cats and 4 pet dogs (especially with obvious fever and cough symptoms) in Beijing, China, were detected by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of SARS-CoV-2 and established diagnostic methods. Throat swabs were collected to detect the nucleic acids of SARS-CoV-2 using fluorescence quantitative PCR and to detect other pathogens. The nucleic acids of SARS-CoV-2 were not present in the 24 pets that we evaluated.