Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA.
Viruses. 2023 Jun 30;15(7):1493. doi: 10.3390/v15071493.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects many mammals, and SARS-CoV-2 circulation in nonhuman animals may increase the risk of novel variant emergence. Cats are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and there were cases of virus transmission between cats and humans. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variant infection of cats in an urban setting. We investigated the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variant infections in domestic and community cats in the city of Pittsburgh ( = 272). While no cats tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA, 35 cats (12.86%) tested SARS-CoV-2-antibody-positive. Further, we compared a cat-specific experimental lateral flow assay (eLFA) and species-agnostic surrogate virus neutralization assay (sVNT) for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection in cats ( = 71). The eLFA demonstrated 100% specificity compared to sVNT. The eLFA also showed 100% sensitivity for sera with >90% inhibition and 63.63% sensitivity for sera with 40-89% inhibition in sVNT. Using a variant-specific pseudovirus neutralization assay (pVNT) and antigen cartography, we found the presence of antibodies to pre-Omicron and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants. Hence, this approach proves valuable in identifying cat exposure to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Our results highlight the continued exposure of cats to SARS-CoV-2 and warrant coordinated surveillance efforts.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 型（SARS-CoV-2）感染许多哺乳动物，非人类动物中 SARS-CoV-2 的循环可能会增加新变体出现的风险。猫极易感染 SARS-CoV-2，并且有病毒在猫与人之间传播的病例。本研究的目的是评估城市环境中猫感染 SARS-CoV-2 变体的流行率。我们调查了匹兹堡市（= 272）家猫和社区猫中 SARS-CoV-2 变体感染的流行率。虽然没有猫的 SARS-CoV-2 病毒 RNA 检测呈阳性，但 35 只猫（12.86%）的 SARS-CoV-2 抗体检测呈阳性。此外，我们比较了猫特异性的实验侧向流动测定（eLFA）和物种不可知的替代病毒中和测定（sVNT）用于检测猫的 SARS-CoV-2 抗体（= 71）。与 sVNT 相比，eLFA 显示出 100%的特异性。对于 sVNT 中>90%抑制的血清，eLFA 的灵敏度为 100%，对于 40-89%抑制的血清，灵敏度为 63.63%。使用变体特异性假病毒中和测定（pVNT）和抗原图谱，我们发现存在针对 SARS-CoV-2 前奥密克戎和奥密克戎变体的抗体。因此，这种方法证明了识别猫暴露于不同 SARS-CoV-2 变体的价值。我们的研究结果突出表明猫持续暴露于 SARS-CoV-2，需要协调监测工作。
