SARS-CoV-2 infections in cats: assessing their zoonotic potential and role in sustaining the COVID-19 pandemic

SARS-CoV-2是一种新的动物来源的冠状病毒，最近在人类中出现，并在世界各地迅速传播。SARS-CoV-2很可能会成为人类的地方性病毒，有可能导致与人类生活在一起的动物受到感染。在患有新冠肺炎患者的家庭中，也有零星的宠物猫感染报告，这表明猫容易感染SARS-CoV-2。这意味着猫可能会成为其他物种的病毒库或感染源。实验感染表明，猫对SARS-CoV-2感染易感，感染的猫能够将SARS-CoV-2传播给其他猫。病毒在呼吸道中复制，在鼻水、口咽和直肠拭子中可以检测到传染性病毒。此外，在粪便和偶尔的尿液中也检测到了病毒的痕迹。人与猫之间感染的风险以及将猫作为SARS-CoV-2的宿主的可能性尚不清楚。鉴于荷兰和丹麦最近有报告称，SARS-CoV-2病毒从人身上跳到水貂身上，在水貂之间传播，然后又跳回人身上，因此有必要进行进一步的研究，以调查容易感染新冠肺炎的动物，包括家养宠物。在这个项目中，我们将调查家猫对SARS-CoV-2感染的易感性，以及随着大流行的进展，它们将病毒传播给猫和其他物种的能力。SARS-CoV-2从人类到猫的成功跨物种跳跃不仅扩大了病毒的宿主范围，还可能为人类和其他物种产生额外的感染源，这将使消除SARS-CoV-2变得更加复杂。只有评估从猫身上分离的SARS-CoV-2病毒感染其他物种(包括人类)的潜力，才有可能有效地测量和控制病毒向所有潜在易感物种的传播。

SARS-CoV-2 is a new coronavirus of animal origin that recently emerged in humans and has spread rapidly across the world. It is likely that SARS-CoV-2 will establish as an endemic virus of humans, which has the potential to lead to infections in animals that live in close proximity to humans. There have been sporadic reports of infections in pet cats in households with COVID-19 patients, which demonstrates that cats are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. This means that cats could potentially act as virus reservoirs, or sources of infection for other species. Experimental infections have demonstrated that cats are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and infected cats are capable of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to other cats. The virus replicates in the respiratory tract and infectious virus can be detected in nasal washes, oropharyngeal and rectal swabs. In addition, traces of the virus have been detected in faeces and occasionally urine. The risk of human-to-cat infection and the potential for the establishment of cats as a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 is unknown. In light of recent reports in The Netherlands and Denmark of SARS-CoV-2 jumping from humans into mink, transmitting between mink and then jumping back into humans, further research is warranted to investigate animals that are susceptible to COVID-19, including domestic pets. In this project we will investigate the susceptibility of domestic cats to SARS-CoV-2 infection and their capacity to transmit the virus to cats and other species as the pandemic progresses. A successful cross-species jump of SARS-CoV-2 from humans into cats not only expands the host range of the virus but might also generate an additional source of infections for humans and other species, which would make the elimination of SARS-CoV-2 more complex. Only by assessing the potential of SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from cats to infect other species, including humans, will it be possible to effectively gauge and control virus transmission to all potentially susceptible species.