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  • Serologic Screening of Seve...
    Zhao, Shan; Schuurman, Nancy; Li, Wentao; Wang, Chunyan; Smit, Lidwien A M; Broens, Els M; Wagenaar, Jaap A; van Kuppeveld, Frank J M; Bosch, Berend-Jan; Egberink, Herman

    Emerging infectious diseases, 05/2021, Letnik: 27, Številka: 5
    Journal Article

    Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can infect many animal species, including minks, cats, and dogs. To gain insights into SARS-CoV-2 infections in cats and dogs, we developed and validated a set of serologic assays, including ELISA and virus neutralization. Evaluation of samples from animals before they acquired coronavirus disease and samples from cats roaming SARS-CoV-2-positive mink farms confirmed the suitability of these assays for specific antibody detection. Furthermore, our findings exclude SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein as an antigen for serologic screening of cat and dog samples. We analyzed 500 serum samples from domestic cats and dogs in the Netherlands during April-May 2020. We showed 0.4% of cats and 0.2% of dogs were seropositive. Although seroprevalence in cats and dogs that had unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposure was low during the first coronavirus disease wave, our data stress the need for development of continuous serosurveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in these 2 animal species.