Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat in Italy with intestinal lymphoma caught COVID-19 and showed
By Klaus, Julia et al.·Published in Viruses·2021·Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Antibody Response in a Symptomatic Cat from Italy with Intestinal B-Cell Lymphoma.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A cat in Italy was brought to the vet showing signs of respiratory illness, including sneezing, coughing, and eye discharge. This cat had a serious underlying condition called intestinal B-cell lymphoma, which made it weaker. After testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cat developed these symptoms just three days later. Blood tests taken months later confirmed that the cat had developed antibodies against the virus, indicating it had been infected. This case highlights that cats can catch SARS-CoV-2, especially if they have other health issues.
People also search for: cat coughing and sneezing · cat SARS-CoV-2 symptoms · intestinal lymphoma in cats · cat respiratory illness treatment
Abstract
Since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was first identified in early 2020, rare cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in pet cats have been reported worldwide. Some reports of cats with SARS-CoV-2 showed self-limiting respiratory or gastrointestinal disease after suspected human-to-feline transmission via close contact with humans with SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, we investigated a cat with SARS-CoV-2 that was presented to a private animal clinic in Northern Italy in May 2020 in a weak clinical condition due to an underlying intestinal B-cell lymphoma. The cat developed signs of respiratory tract disease, including a sneeze, a cough and ocular discharge, three days after an oropharyngeal swab tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA using two real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays for the envelope () and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase () gene. Thus, SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was detectable prior to the onset of clinical signs. Five and six months after positive molecular results, the serological testing substantiated the presence of a SARS-CoV-2 infection in the cat with the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies and neutralizing activity in a surrogate virus neutralization assay (sVNT). To the best of our knowledge, this extends the known duration of seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2 in a cat. Our study provides further evidence that cats are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 under natural conditions and strengthens the assumption that comorbidities may play a role in the development of clinical disease.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33806922/