Simple Summary We investigated dogs and cats living in four animal shelters in the United States that had been exposed to people with COVID-19 in the shelters. Our objective was to understand if the animals were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. We found that out of the 96 dogs and cats that we sampled, none had active SARS-CoV-2 infections and only one dog had detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, meaning that it had been exposed to the virus but was not actively infected. This suggests that the risk of humans spreading SARS-CoV-2 to dogs and cats in animal shelter settings is probably low. Abstract Human-to-animal and animal-to-animal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been documented; however, investigations into SARS-CoV-2 transmission in congregate animal settings are lacking. We investigated four animal shelters in the United States that had identified animals with exposure to shelter employees with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Of the 96 cats and dogs with specimens collected, only one dog had detectable SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies; no animal specimens had detectable viral RNA. These data indicate a low probability of human-to-animal transmission events in cats and dogs in shelter settings with early implementation of infection prevention interventions.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, animal shelter, zoonosis, human-to-animal, 【초록키워드】 antibody, SARS-COV-2 infection, Human, risk, virus, Probability, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, implementation, Infection prevention, Neutralizing, Viral RNA, specimen, laboratory-confirmed, transmission of SARS-CoV-2, simple, event, human-to-animal transmission, were infected, collected, the United State, investigated, detectable, cause, people with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Seroprevalence, Human, dog, animal, employee,