A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats

doi:10.1016/j.vas.2022.100280

. 2022 Dec 14:19:100280.

doi: 10.1016/j.vas.2022.100280. eCollection 2023 Mar.

A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats

Affiliations

¹ Department of Virology, Samsun Veterinary Control Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 55200 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
² Department of Veterinary Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
³ Department of Preventive Medicine and Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Gadarif, P.O.Box.449, 32211, Al Qadarif, Sudan.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Experimental Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
⁵ ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.

PMID: 36582670
PMCID: PMC9792910
DOI: 10.1016/j.vas.2022.100280

A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats

Hamza Kadi et al. Vet Anim Sci. 2022.

. 2022 Dec 14:19:100280.

doi: 10.1016/j.vas.2022.100280. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Virology, Samsun Veterinary Control Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 55200 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
² Department of Veterinary Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
³ Department of Preventive Medicine and Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Gadarif, P.O.Box.449, 32211, Al Qadarif, Sudan.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Experimental Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, 55139 Atakum, Samsun, Turkey.
⁵ ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal.

PMID: 36582670
PMCID: PMC9792910
DOI: 10.1016/j.vas.2022.100280

Abstract

Current evidence have now demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infects a wide array of mammalian animals; however, the full range of hosts and the viral circulation in companion animals remains to be clarified. In this context, as no such evidenced cases have been reported from Turkey, we aimed to screen for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in housed dogs and cats clinically evaluated for respiratory symptoms and reared in different locations of Samsun province in the black sea region of Turkey from July 2020 to July 2021. Nasal swabs were collected from a total of 415 pets (65 cats and 350 dogs) aged between 1 and 9 years old. All the specimens were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA presence by real-time RT-PCR targeting two genomic regions of SARS-CoV-2, but none showed positive results. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 does not circulate in local pets and is not responsible for respiratory symptoms. However, further comprehensive molecular and serological surveys are required to have a better picture of the zoonotic, reverse zoonotic and pathogenic consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.

Keywords: COVID-19; Companion animals; RT-qPCR; SARS-CoV-2; Turkey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig 1 — **Fig. 1**
Location of Samsun province in northern Turkey, where samples were collected for this study.

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[1] Abdel-Moneim AS, Abdelwhab EM. Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 infection of animal hosts. Pathogens. 2020;9(7):529. doi: 10.3390/pathogens90705. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Abdel-Moneim AS, Abdelwhab EM. Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 infection of animal hosts. Pathogens. 2020;9(7):529. doi: 10.3390/pathogens90705. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Alexander MR, Schoeder CT, Brown JA, Smart CD, Moth C, Wikswo JP, Capra JA, Meiler J, Chen W, Madhur MS. Which animals are at risk? Predicting species susceptibility to Covid-19. bioRxiv. 2020 doi: 10.1101/2020.07.09.194563. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Alexander MR, Schoeder CT, Brown JA, Smart CD, Moth C, Wikswo JP, Capra JA, Meiler J, Chen W, Madhur MS. Which animals are at risk? Predicting species susceptibility to Covid-19. bioRxiv. 2020 doi: 10.1101/2020.07.09.194563. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Barrs VR, Peiris M, Tam KWS, Law PYT, Brackman CJ, To EMW, Yu VYT, Chu DKW, Perera R, Sit THC. SARS-CoV-2 in quarantined domestic cats from COVID-19 households or close contacts, Hong Kong, China. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2020;26:3071–3074. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.202786. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Barrs VR, Peiris M, Tam KWS, Law PYT, Brackman CJ, To EMW, Yu VYT, Chu DKW, Perera R, Sit THC. SARS-CoV-2 in quarantined domestic cats from COVID-19 households or close contacts, Hong Kong, China. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2020;26:3071–3074. doi: 10.3201/eid2612.202786. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Bosco-Lauth AM, Hartwig AE, Porter SM, Gordy PW, Nehring M, Byas AD, VandeWoude S, Ragan IK, Maison RM, Bowen RA. Experimental infection of domestic dogs and cats with SARS-CoV-2: Pathogenesis, transmission, and response to reexposure in cats. Proceedings National Academy of Science USA. 2020;117:26382–26388. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2013102117. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Bosco-Lauth AM, Hartwig AE, Porter SM, Gordy PW, Nehring M, Byas AD, VandeWoude S, Ragan IK, Maison RM, Bowen RA. Experimental infection of domestic dogs and cats with SARS-CoV-2: Pathogenesis, transmission, and response to reexposure in cats. Proceedings National Academy of Science USA. 2020;117:26382–26388. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2013102117. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Calvet GA, Pereira SA, Ogrzewalska M, Pauvolid-Correa A, Resende PC, Tassinari WS, Costa AP, Keidel LO, da Rocha ASB, da Silva MFB, et al. Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs and cats of humans diagnosed with COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PLoS ONE. 2021;16 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250853. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Calvet GA, Pereira SA, Ogrzewalska M, Pauvolid-Correa A, Resende PC, Tassinari WS, Costa AP, Keidel LO, da Rocha ASB, da Silva MFB, et al. Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs and cats of humans diagnosed with COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PLoS ONE. 2021;16 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250853. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats

Affiliations

A one-year extensive molecular survey on SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals of Turkey shows a lack of evidence for viral circulation in pet dogs and cats

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