Department of Microbiology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Oczapowskiego 13, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland.
Institute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald - Insel Riems, Germany.
Acta Vet Scand. 2023 Feb 28;65(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s13028-023-00672-3.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in China by the end of 2019 and was responsible for a pandemic in the human population that resulted in millions of deaths worldwide. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the role of animals as spill-over or reservoir hosts was discussed. In addition to cats and dogs, ferrets are becoming increasingly popular as companion animals. Under experimental conditions, ferrets are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and it appears that they can also be infected through contact with a SARS-CoV-2 positive owner. However, there is still little information available regarding these natural infections. Here, we serologically tested samples collected from pet ferrets (n = 45) from Poland between June and September 2021. Of the ferrets that were included in the study, 29% (13/45) had contact with owners with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections. Nevertheless, SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies could not be detected in any of the animals, independent of the infection status of the owner. The obtained results suggest that ferrets cannot be readily infected with SARS-CoV-2 under natural conditions, even after prolonged contact with infected humans. However, due to the rapid mutation rate of this virus, it is important to include ferrets in future monitoring studies.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）于 2019 年底在中国首次被发现，它导致了全球范围内的大流行，并导致数百万人死亡。自疫情开始以来，人们就一直在讨论动物作为溢出或储存宿主的作用。除了猫和狗之外，雪貂作为伴侣动物也越来越受欢迎。在实验条件下，雪貂容易感染 SARS-CoV-2，而且似乎它们也可以通过接触感染 SARS-CoV-2 的主人而感染。然而，关于这些自然感染的信息仍然很少。在这里，我们对 2021 年 6 月至 9 月期间从波兰的宠物雪貂（n=45）中采集的样本进行了血清学检测。在所研究的雪貂中，29%（13/45）与确诊感染 SARS-CoV-2 的主人有过接触。然而，无论主人的感染状况如何，都无法在任何动物中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 特异性抗体。研究结果表明，即使与感染的人类长时间接触，雪貂在自然条件下也不容易感染 SARS-CoV-2。然而，由于这种病毒的快速突变率，在未来的监测研究中纳入雪貂非常重要。
