Significance Ferrets have been demonstrated to be susceptible to laboratory infection of SARS-CoV-2, raising the possibility of natural transmission from humans into their pets in domestic settings. We demonstrate that ferrets may have host barriers that limit natural infection and transmission. First, we find no evidence of infection in 29 ferrets from a home with constant exposure to two adults with one confirmed and one suspected case of symptomatic COVID-19. Second, we analyze genetic sequences from viruses and hosts and demonstrate that ferrets have genetic factors that confer resistance to natural SARS-CoV-2 infection. These data suggest that ferret infection may require viral adaptation, and therefore ferrets may only be semipermissive models of SARS-CoV-2 disease or transmission. Ferrets ( Mustela putorius furo ) are mustelids of special relevance to laboratory studies of respiratory viruses and have been shown to be susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and onward transmission. Here, we report the results of a natural experiment where 29 ferrets in one home had prolonged, direct contact and constant environmental exposure to two humans with symptomatic disease, one of whom was confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2. We observed no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans to ferrets based on viral and antibody assays. To better understand this discrepancy in experimental and natural infection in ferrets, we compared SARS-CoV-2 sequences from natural and experimental mustelid infections and identified two surface glycoprotein Spike (S) mutations associated with mustelids. While we found evidence that angiotensin-converting enzyme II provides a weak host barrier, one mutation only seen in ferrets is located in the novel S1/S2 cleavage site and is computationally predicted to decrease furin cleavage efficiency. These data support the idea that host factors interacting with the novel S1/S2 cleavage site may be a barrier in ferret SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and that domestic ferrets are at low risk of natural infection from currently circulating SARS-CoV-2. We propose two mechanistically grounded hypotheses for mustelid host adaptation of SARS-CoV-2, with possible effects that require additional investigation.
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