Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal, Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries, Campus Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain;
Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Oct 6;117(40):24790-24793. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2010817117. Epub 2020 Sep 18.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of COVID-19, is considered a zoonotic pathogen mainly transmitted human to human. Few reports indicate that pets may be exposed to the virus. The present report describes a cat suffering from severe respiratory distress and thrombocytopenia living with a family with several members affected by COVID-19. Clinical signs of the cat prompted humanitarian euthanasia and a detailed postmortem investigation to assess whether a COVID-19-like disease was causing the condition. Necropsy results showed the animal suffered from feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severe pulmonary edema and thrombosis. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was only detected in nasal swab, nasal turbinates, and mesenteric lymph node, but no evidence of histopathological lesions compatible with a viral infection were detected. The cat seroconverted against SARS-CoV-2, further evidencing a productive infection in this animal. We conclude that the animal had a subclinical SARS-CoV-2 infection concomitant to an unrelated cardiomyopathy that led to euthanasia.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）是 COVID-19 的病原体，被认为是一种主要在人际间传播的人畜共患病原体。有少数报告表明宠物可能接触过该病毒。本报告描述了一只患有严重呼吸窘迫和血小板减少症的猫，它与一个有多名 COVID-19 患者的家庭生活在一起。猫的临床症状促使对其实施了人道安乐死，并进行了详细的尸检调查，以评估是否存在 COVID-19 样疾病导致这种情况。尸检结果显示，该动物患有猫肥厚型心肌病和严重肺水肿和血栓形成。仅在鼻腔拭子、鼻甲骨和肠系膜淋巴结中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 RNA，但未发现与病毒感染相符的组织病理学病变的证据。该猫对 SARS-CoV-2 血清转化，进一步证明该动物发生了有产毒力的感染。我们的结论是，该动物发生了 SARS-CoV-2 亚临床感染，同时并发了一种无关的心肌病，导致了安乐死。
