A recent study highlights that many indoor cats in New York City contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily from their owners. Conducted on a sample of cats that visited a veterinary clinic on the Upper East Side, this research, published on October 7 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases One Health, reveals that most of these felines exhibited no symptoms.
The findings reinforce the notion that cats can effectively contract SARS-CoV-2 from humans, despite the rarity of reported cases of humans catching the virus from cats. The study emphasizes the necessity of incorporating pets into public health monitoring and suggests that infected cats pose a minimal health risk to the public. “The big concern at the time was that people would be putting their cats out onto the street, overwhelming the shelters,” stated Gary Whittaker, a professor of virology at Cornell University and the study”s senior author. “It turned out that wasn”t a concern. Cats do get exposed, but there”s no reason to panic about that.”
Humans are known to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to various animal species, including dogs, mink, and deer. However, there has been a lack of studies focusing specifically on the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in domestic cats during the pandemic”s initial phases. This retrospective research aims to fill that gap.
The study involved blood samples from 79 domestic cats (33 male and 46 female) who attended the Sutton Animal Hospital for routine checkups. These samples were analyzed at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) at Cornell University. Bettina Wagner, a co-author of the study and a professor at Cornell, along with her colleagues, utilized an advanced assay initially designed to detect human antibodies, which they adapted to identify antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in cats.
Results from the study, which spanned from June 2020 to May 2021, indicated that 16% of the cats had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, confirming previous infections. Notably, a 44% positive antibody rate was observed among cats sampled in the fall of 2020, coinciding with a spike in human COVID-19 cases in the city. The veterinary clinic was situated near New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine, where early COVID-19 patients were treated. Although the cats” owners remained anonymous, many reportedly lived in proximity to the hospital and worked there, suggesting a likely transmission route from hospital staff to owners and then to their pets.
The study found no significant correlation between a cat”s age, breed, or sex and the likelihood of infection. Only two cats displayed respiratory symptoms alongside elevated antibody levels. “There”s information here for the future, concerning the potential susceptibility of cats to this human virus and the fact that it spreads asymptomatically,” Whittaker added.
The research was funded by the Cornell University Office of the Vice Provost for Research. Annette Choi, a doctoral student, served as the paper”s first author.
