No abstract

RESEARCH LETTERS converged toward the same result: the convalescentphase serum from the cat contained immunoglobulins against SARS-CoV-2, which were absent from the serum from control cats. These antibodies target several distinct viral proteins, and they caused a total neutralizing effect up to a much higher dilution than those from the owner's serum. This household cat was therefore productively infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus excreted by its owner, and the infection caused a nonfatal but nevertheless severe disease, mainly of the respiratory system (Videos 2-6). Public health officials are still learning about SARS-CoV-2, but no current evidence indicates that pets play a role in spreading the virus. Therefore, taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare is not justified.

No abstract

Surrogate neutralization assays for SARS-CoV-2 that can be done without biosafety-level-3 containment and in multiple species are desirable. We evaluate a recently developed surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT) in comparison to 90% plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT90) in human, canine, cat and hamster sera. With PRNT90 as reference, sVNT had sensitivity of 98.9% and specificity of 98.8% respectively. Using a panel of immune sera to other coronaviruses, we confirm the lack of cross reactivity to other coronaviruses in SARS-CoV-2 sVNT and PRNT90 assays, except for cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-1 in sVNT.

Surrogate neutralization assays for SARS-CoV-2 that can be done without biosafety-level-3 containment and across multiple species are desirable. We evaluate a recently developed surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT) in comparison to 90% plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT90) in human, canine, cat and hamster sera and found excellent concordance between the two assays. Using a panel of immune sera to other coronaviruses, we confirm the lack of cross reactivity in sVNT and PRNT90 assays.