Lenz Olivia C, Marques Andrew D, Kelly Brendan J, Rodino Kyle G, Cole Stephen D, Perera Ranawaka A P M, Weiss Susan R, Bushman Frederic D, Lennon Elizabeth M
Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3900 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3610 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Viruses. 2022 Feb 17;14(2):421. doi: 10.3390/v14020421.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections have spilled over from humans to companion and wild animals since the inception of the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, whole genome sequencing data of the viral genomes that infect non-human animal species have been scant. Here, we detected and sequenced a SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (AY.3) in fecal samples from an 11-year-old domestic house cat previously exposed to an owner who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Molecular testing of two fecal samples collected 7 days apart yielded relatively high levels of viral RNA. Sequencing of the feline-derived viral genomes showed the two to be identical, and differing by between 4 and 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms in pairwise comparisons to human-derived lineage AY.3 sequences collected in the same geographic area and time period. However, several mutations unique to the feline samples reveal their divergence from this cohort on phylogenetic analysis. These results demonstrate continued spillover infections of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants that threaten human and animal health, as well as highlight the importance of collecting fecal samples when testing for SARS-CoV-2 in animals. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first published case of a SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in a domestic cat in the United States.
自全球新冠疫情爆发以来，严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染已从人类传播到伴侣动物和野生动物。然而，感染非人类动物物种的病毒基因组的全基因组测序数据却很少。在此，我们在一只11岁的家猫的粪便样本中检测并测序了一种SARS-CoV-2德尔塔变种（AY.3），这只家猫之前接触过一名SARS-CoV-2检测呈阳性的主人。对相隔7天采集的两份粪便样本进行分子检测，结果显示病毒RNA水平相对较高。对猫源病毒基因组的测序表明，这两份样本是相同的，与在同一地理区域和时间段采集的人类源AY.3谱系序列进行成对比较时，它们之间存在4至14个单核苷酸多态性差异。然而，猫样本特有的几个突变在系统发育分析中显示出它们与该群体的差异。这些结果表明，新出现的SARS-CoV-2变种持续发生跨物种传播感染，威胁着人类和动物健康，同时也凸显了在对动物进行SARS-CoV-2检测时采集粪便样本的重要性。据作者所知，这是美国首次发表的家猫感染SARS-CoV-2德尔塔变种的病例。
