UP - logo
E-resources
Peer reviewed Open access
  • Persistent SARS-CoV-2 antig...
    Jarrah, Samar Afif; Kmetiuk, Louise Bach; de Carvalho, Otávio Valério; de Sousa, Alessandra Tammy Hayakawa Ito; Souza, Valeria Regia Franco; Nakazato, Luciano; Colodel, Edson Moleta; Dos Santos, Andrea Pires; Pettan-Brewer, Christina; Hahn, Rosane Christine; Slhessarenko, Renata Dezengrini; Ubiali, Daniel Guimarães; Pereira, Asheley Henrique Barbosa; de Morais, Helio Autran; Biondo, Alexander Welker; Dutra, Valéria

    The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases, 2022, Volume: 28
    Journal Article

    Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent of the disease coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in humans. SARS-CoV-2 has been identified in cats with or without clinical signs. We describe the pathological and molecular findings in a six-month-old asymptomatic cat with SARS-CoV-2 infection from Brazil, belonging to a human family with COVID-19 cases. The pool of nasopharynx and oropharynx swabs at day zero tested positive by RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2. No amplification resulted from molecular testing performed on days 7 and 14. The cat was hit by a car and died 43 days after the molecular diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry at examination demonstrated nucleocapsid protein in samples from the lungs, kidneys, nasal conchae, trachea, intestine, brain and spleen. The present study has highlighted the possibility that viral antigens can be detected by immunohistochemistry in multiple organs six weeks after infection, although the same tissues tested negative by RT-PCR.