Fritz Matthieu, Elguero Eric, Becquart Pierre, De Riols de Fonclare Daphné, Garcia Déborah, Beurlet Stephanie, Denolly Solène, Boson Bertrand, Rosolen Serge G, Cosset François-Loïc, Briend-Marchal Alexandra, Legros Vincent, Leroy Eric M
Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs, Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC), Univ. Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, Montpellier, France.
Laboratoire de Biologie vétérinaire VEBIO, Arcueil, France.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2025 Mar;72(2):184-193. doi: 10.1111/zph.13198. Epub 2024 Dec 8.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has the potential to infect various animals, including domestic pets like dogs and cats. Many studies have documented infection in companion animals by molecular and serological methods. However, only a few have compared seroprevalence in cats and dogs from the general population, and these studies were limited by small sample sizes and collections over short periods. Our aim was to obtain a more accurate evaluation of seroprevalence in companion animals in France and to determine whether cats and dogs differ in their exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
We conducted an extensive serological survey of SARS-CoV-2, collecting blood samples from 2036 cats and 3577 dogs during routine veterinary medical examinations across different regions of metropolitan France from October 2020 to June 2021. This period encompassed the peaks and onset of two waves, as well as the emergence of the first variants. A microsphere immunoassay targeting the receptor-binding domain and trimeric spike protein was used to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. A subset of 308 seropositive samples was tested for the presence of neutralising antibodies.
We determined an overall seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies of 7.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.4%-7.8%) among the sampled pets. Cats exhibited a significantly higher seroprevalence (9.3%; 95% CI: 8.1%-10.1%) compared to dogs (5.9%; 95% CI: 5.2%-6.8%). Among the subset of seropositive samples, 81 (26.3%; 95% CI: 21.5%-31.6%) displayed neutralizing antibodies. Furthermore, seroprevalence in both species was lower in older animals and was not associated with sex. Finally, unlike cats, seroprevalence in dogs was found to be correlated with the date of sampling.
The large sample size enhances the reliability and statistical robustness of our estimates regarding pet exposure to SARS-CoV-2. This study on SARS-CoV-2 reaffirms the crucial importance of adopting a One Health approach incorporating domestic animals when managing an epidemic caused by a zoonotic virus.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）有可能感染各种动物，包括狗和猫等家养宠物。许多研究已通过分子和血清学方法记录了伴侣动物中的感染情况。然而，只有少数研究比较了普通人群中猫和狗的血清阳性率，并且这些研究受到样本量小和短期收集的限制。我们的目的是更准确地评估法国伴侣动物中的血清阳性率，并确定猫和狗在接触SARS-CoV-2方面是否存在差异。
我们对SARS-CoV-2进行了广泛的血清学调查，在2020年10月至2021年6月期间，从法国本土不同地区的常规兽医检查中收集了2036只猫和3577只狗的血样。这一时期涵盖了两波疫情的高峰和发病期，以及第一批变异毒株的出现。使用针对受体结合域和三聚体刺突蛋白的微球免疫测定法检测抗SARS-CoV-2抗体。对308份血清阳性样本的一个子集进行了中和抗体检测。
我们确定在抽样宠物中抗SARS-CoV-2抗体的总体血清阳性率为7.1%（95%置信区间[CI]：6.4%-7.8%）。与狗（5.9%；95%CI：5.2%-6.8%）相比，猫的血清阳性率显著更高（9.3%；95%CI：8.1%-10.1%）。在血清阳性样本子集中，81份（26.3%；95%CI：21.5%-31.6%）显示有中和抗体。此外，两个物种中年龄较大的动物血清阳性率较低，且与性别无关。最后，与猫不同，发现狗的血清阳性率与采样日期相关。
大样本量提高了我们对宠物接触SARS-CoV-2估计的可靠性和统计稳健性。这项关于SARS-CoV-2的研究再次强调了在管理由人畜共患病毒引起的疫情时采用包括家畜在内的“同一健康”方法的至关重要性。
