Study of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in domestic cats

The idea that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a zoonotic disease is very popular. The theory that the first incident arose from a bat transmission in Wuhan’s fresh market attracted extensive media attention in the first months of the pandemic. Since then, it is undeniable that the disease has shown some zoonotic diseases, so other theories have received more attention. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its subspecies have been identified in mink, some rodents, and some zoo animals such as puma, gorilla, and snow leopard. ..In the paper published in Emerging infectious diseasesResearchers at the Hannover University of Veterinary Medicine are investigating the spread of the disease in domestic cats in Europe.

study: SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody in domestic cats during Europe’s first COVID-19 wave.. Image Credit: TanyaPhOtOgraf / Shutterstock

the study

Many vaccines and treatments for illness Spike protein For SARS-CoV-2. It is essential for the pathogenicity of living organisms. Peplomers are trimers with many copies that cover the surface of the virus and are made up of two subunits. S1 contains a receptor binding domain (RBD) that binds to several receptors, including angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which allows the entry of viral cells. The N-terminal domain of the S2 subunit is involved in membrane fusion.

Researchers have collected a total of more than 2000 samples from European cats. Between April and June 2020, 1136 samples were collected from Germany, 331 samples in the United Kingdom, 333 samples in Italy and 360 samples from Spain. About 1800 of these come with information about the age of the cat, with an average age of 11 years. Twenty-five pre-pandemic cat serum samples and 25 samples from cats were found to be positive for feline coronavirus.

Scientists used the Plaque Reduction Virus Neutralization Test (VNT) to measure antibody positive by analyzing virus neutralization rates. To further validate these results, they developed an indirect ELISA for detecting RBD antibodies by replacing anti-human IgG conjugates with anti-cat IgG conjugates. The performance of this ELISA was evaluated using Pearson correlation and VNT was analyzed using Gaussian distribution analysis.

In total, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was approximately 4.2% in Germany, 3.3% in the United Kingdom, 4.2% in Italy and 6.4% in Spain. Both tests showed similar results, with VNT showing a total of 96 positive samples and ELISA showing 92 positive samples. Gaussian distribution analysis showed a strong correlation between the sensitivities of the new test. Both controls showed negative results for all samples in both tests, confirming the specificity of the assay.

ELISA showed higher sensitivity and specificity than VNT. Nevertheless, VNT has proven to be excellent at detecting low titer positive samples. Probably because it can detect a wider range of viruses.Neutralizing antibody.. In contrast, ELISA can only detect anti-RBD antibodies.

Most COVID-19 infections in cats appear to have a mild or asymptomatic course, with little evidence of common cat-to-human transmission, but the disease is a zoonotic disease from humans. May have infected the cat first.Further investigation Send COVID-19 It is important for animal and zoonotic events, as animal populations can provide a reservoir of disease. In other animals, such as mink, the disease that spreads between humans and mink is fairly common, and there is evidence that the disease can also infect other primates.

Conclusion

The authors emphasized that their tests showed very similar results, eliminating the need for live viruses and avoiding the need for biosafety level 3 laboratories, WTSARS-CoV-2 in cats. We suggest that you complete further testing with homemade ELISA. In addition, to prevent cross-infection between humans and domestic cats, infected individuals should maintain a social distance from the cat, wear masks when in the same room, and generally avoid close contact. They suggest. Researchers acknowledge that all samples were sent to the Veterinary Diagnostic Institute in a state other than COVID-19, which may not be a complete representation of European cat populations.

However, this study provides valuable insights into the spread of SAS-CoV-2 in cat populations and provides tools for further investigation. The same concept used in their Elisa can also be adapted to investigate the spread of other animals, which is likely to indicate cross-infection with humans. Due to the slowdown in vaccination rates in the United States and the United Kingdom, the disease is likely to last significantly longer than originally expected. Understanding the effects of zoonotic diseases and their spread among livestock can be very important in minimizing future outbreaks.