One Health Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Seropositivity among Pets in Households with Confirmed Human COVID-19 Cases—Utah and Wisconsin, 2020

• Main Authors: Grace W. Goryoka, Caitlin M. Cossaboom, Radhika Gharpure, Patrick Dawson, Cassandra Tansey, John Rossow, Victoria Mrotz, Jane Rooney, Mia Torchetti, Christina M. Loiacono, Mary L. Killian, Melinda Jenkins-Moore, Ailam Lim, Keith Poulsen, Dan Christensen, Emma Sweet, Dallin Peterson, Anna L. Sangster, Erin L. Young, Kelly F. Oakeson, Dean Taylor, Amanda Price, Tair Kiphibane, Rachel Klos, Darlene Konkle, Sanjib Bhattacharyya, Trivikram Dasu, Victoria T. Chu, Nathaniel M. Lewis, Krista Queen, Jing Zhang, Anna Uehara, Elizabeth A. Dietrich, Suxiang Tong, Hannah L. Kirking, Jeffrey B. Doty, Laura S. Murrell, Jessica R. Spengler, Anne Straily, Ryan Wallace, Casey Barton Behravesh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Viruses
• Subjects: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; pets; dog; cat; transmission
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/9/1813

Approximately 67% of U.S. households have pets. Limited data are available on SARS-CoV-2 in pets. We assessed SARS-CoV-2 infection in pets during a COVID-19 household transmission investigation. Pets from households with ≥1 person with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were eligible for inclusion from April–May 2020. We enrolled 37 dogs and 19 cats from 34 households. All oropharyngeal, nasal, and rectal swabs tested negative by rRT-PCR; one dog’s fur swabs (2%) tested positive by rRT-PCR at the first sampling. Among 47 pets with serological results, eight (17%) pets (four dogs, four cats) from 6/30 (20%) households had detectable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. In households with a seropositive pet, the proportion of people with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 was greater (median 79%; range: 40–100%) compared to households with no seropositive pet (median 37%; range: 13–100%) (<i>p</i> = 0.01). Thirty-three pets with serologic results had frequent daily contact (≥1 h) with the index patient before the person’s COVID-19 diagnosis. Of these 33 pets, 14 (42%) had decreased contact with the index patient after diagnosis and none were seropositive; of the 19 (58%) pets with continued contact, four (21%) were seropositive. Seropositive pets likely acquired infection after contact with people with COVID-19. People with COVID-19 should restrict contact with pets and other animals.