Ferreira Francisco C, Auckland Lisa D, Busselman Rachel E, Davila Edward, Tang Wendy, Lim Ailam, Sarbo Nathan, Yaglom Hayley D, Centner Heather, Mead Heather L, Tao Ying, Castro Juan, Li Yan, Zhang Jing, Wang Haibin, Malapati Lakshmi, Cook Peter, Retchless Adam, Tong Suxiang, Zecca Italo B, Ghai Ria R, Barton Behravesh Casey, Fischer Rebecca S B, Hamer Gabriel L, Hamer Sarah A
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
mSphere. 2025 Jul 2:e0007425. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00074-25.
Monitoring the zoonotic potential of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in animals is a critical tool to protect public health. We conducted a longitudinal study in 47 households reporting people with COVID-19 in Texas from January to July 2022, during the first Omicron wave. We evaluated 105 people and 100 of their companion animals for SARS-CoV-2 infection at three sequential sampling events, starting 0-5 days after the first reported diagnosis of COVID-19 in the house. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 68% of people from 43 households; 95.5% of people had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Dogs were the only animal species positive by RT-qPCR (5.4%; 3/55), and their viral loads were consistently lower compared with those from household members. Additionally, infected dogs did not yield infectious virus. Clusters of Omicron BA.1.1, BA.2.3.4, and BA.5.1.1 in people, dogs, and a dog food bowl confirmed human-to-dog transmission within households, with no evidence of onward transmission from the infected dogs. Eleven dogs ( = 55) and two cats ( = 26) had neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Overall, infection was not associated with clinical signs in pets; only two animals that tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 were reported to be sick. Nearly one-third (30.2%) of households with active COVID-19 had pets exposed to SARS-CoV-2, similar to our pre-Omicron studies; however, the incidence of infection in cats was lower compared with pre-Omicron. These differences suggest that the zoonotic transmission dynamics in households may differ based on variants.IMPORTANCESARS-CoV-2 infects a broad diversity of mammals, with companion dogs and cats at risk of infection via close contact with infectious owners. Longitudinal studies sampling pets and their owners over time are essential to understanding within-household SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics. Our repeated sampling in households with people reporting COVID-19 found that 68% of the people in 43 households had active SARS-CoV-2 infection during at least one of the three sampling events. Although none of the 27 cats were positive, 3/55 dogs had active infections. Household clusters of three different Omicron subvariants were involved in these human-to-dog transmission events, and our data suggest reduced infection in pets during Omicron transmission compared with pre-Omicron waves. Protecting pets from SARS-CoV-2 infection remains important, as viral evolution can be accompanied by changes in the infectiousness of different hosts.
监测新出现的严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）变种在动物中的人畜共患病潜力是保护公众健康的关键工具。在2022年1月至7月奥密克戎毒株第一波流行期间，我们对得克萨斯州47户报告有新冠病毒病患者的家庭进行了一项纵向研究。我们在三个连续的采样点对105人及其100只伴侣动物进行了SARS-CoV-2感染评估，从家中首次报告新冠病毒病诊断后的0至5天开始。在来自43户家庭的68%的人中检测到了SARS-CoV-2 RNA；95.5%的人具有抗SARS-CoV-2抗体。狗是唯一通过逆转录定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）检测呈阳性的动物物种（5.4%；55只中有3只），与家庭成员相比，它们的病毒载量一直较低。此外，受感染的狗没有产生传染性病毒。在人、狗和一个狗粮碗中发现的奥密克戎BA.1.1、BA.2.3.4和BA.5.1.1毒株集群证实了家庭内的人传人狗传播，没有证据表明受感染的狗会发生进一步传播。11只狗（共55只）和2只猫（共26只）具有抗SARS-CoV-2的中和抗体。总体而言，感染与宠物的临床症状无关；据报告只有两只SARS-CoV-2检测呈阴性的动物生病。近三分之一（30.2%）有活跃新冠病毒病病例的家庭中，宠物接触过SARS-CoV-2，这与我们在奥密克戎毒株出现之前的研究结果相似；然而，与奥密克戎毒株出现之前相比，猫的感染率较低。这些差异表明，家庭中的人畜共患病传播动态可能因变种而异。重要性SARS-CoV-2可感染多种哺乳动物，伴侣犬和猫有通过与感染性主人密切接触而感染的风险。随着时间推移对宠物及其主人进行采样的纵向研究对于了解家庭内SARS-CoV-2传播动态至关重要。我们在报告有新冠病毒病患者的家庭中进行的重复采样发现，在43户家庭中，68%的人在三次采样事件中的至少一次期间有活跃的SARS-CoV-2感染。虽然27只猫均未呈阳性，但55只狗中有3只发生了活跃感染。三种不同奥密克戎亚变种的家庭集群参与了这些人传人狗的传播事件，我们的数据表明，与奥密克戎毒株出现之前的波次相比，奥密克戎毒株传播期间宠物感染减少。保护宠物免受SARS-CoV-2感染仍然很重要，因为病毒进化可能伴随着不同宿主传染性的变化。
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