Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
SARS-CoV-2 exposure in hunting and stray dogs in Italy
By Ferrara, Gianmarco et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2024·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: SARS-CoV-2 exposure in hunting and stray dogs of southern Italy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of hunting and stray dogs in southern Italy were tested for exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. Out of 112 dogs, 5 were found to have antibodies, indicating they had been exposed to the virus in the past, but none showed signs of active infection at the time of testing. Stray dogs had a higher rate of exposure compared to hunting dogs. This suggests that while dogs can be exposed to the virus, they are not likely to spread it actively.
People also search for: dog COVID-19 exposure · hunting dog health concerns · stray dog virus symptoms
Abstract
Evidence of exposure to the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 has been described in numerous animal species, including pets, which are predisposed to coming into contact with this virus due to their close relationship with owners. It has been accepted that dogs are poorly susceptible to this virus and that seroconversion, rather than shedding, occurs following infection, which can occur directly through contact with infected owners or indirectly through environmental contamination. In this study, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated in apparently health hunting and stray dogs of Campania region, southern Italy (sampled in September 2023). A total of 5/112 (4.5%) animals tested seropositive using two different commercial ELISAs. Stray animals had greater exposure than hunting dogs. The feces and blood of each animal were tested with a real-time PCR targeting the nucleocapsid and ORF1ab coding sequences. No animal tested positive in molecular investigations, indicating a past exposure without active infection at the time of sampling.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39167256/