Rapid antigen detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in stray cats: A cross-sectional study

Vet World Vol.17 July-2024 Article - 23

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(7): 1611-1618

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.1611-1618

Ronaldy Santana Santos¹, Daniel Antônio Braga Lee², Marina dos Santos Barreto¹, Eloia Emanuelly Dias Silva¹, Pamela Chaves de Jesus¹, Pedro Henrique Macedo Moura¹, Deise Maria Rego Rodrigues Silva¹, Jessiane Bispo de Souza¹, Taynar Lima Bezerra², Patricia Oliveira Meira Santos², Adriana Gibara Guimarães¹, Lucas Alves da Mota Santana³, Carlos Roberto Prudencio^4,5 and Lysandro Pinto Borges^1,6

1. Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
3. Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão, SE, Brazil.
4. Immunology Center, Adolfo Lutz Institute, São Paulo 01246- 902, Brazil.
5. Interunits Graduate Program in Biotechnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil.
6. Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-000, SP, Brazil.

Background and Aim: Although reverse zoonotic transmission events from humans to domestic cats have been described, there is currently little evidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) circulation in stray cats. Due to the evidence of natural and experimental infections in cats and the capacity to disseminate the virus among them, this study aimed to identify the SARS-CoV-2 antigen in stray cats from the Federal University of Sergipe in Brazil.

Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty six stray cats from the university were screened for SARS-CoV-2 antigens by random sampling. Throat swab samples were tested for the virus using rapid antigen detection tests.

Results: Of the 126 animals tested, 30 (23.60%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigens. To our knowledge, for the first time, this study detected the SARS-CoV-2 antigen in stray cats and confirmed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Brazil’s stray cat population.

Conclusion: The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in stray cats poses a risk for infected and healthy animals and possibly for humans who attend the university daily. As a limitation of the study, the small sample size necessitates caution when interpreting the results. This underscores the need for further research in this area to help control diseases in stray animals during potential pandemics. This highlights the need for monitoring and controlling the spread of the virus in stray animal populations.

Keywords: animals, antigen, cats, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2.

How to cite this article: Santos RS, Lee DAB, dos Santos Barreto M, Silva EED, de Jesus PC, Moura PHM, Silva DMRR, de Souza JB, Bezerra TL, Santos POM, Guimarães AG, Santana LAM, Prudencio CR, and Borges LP (2024) Rapid antigen detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus in stray cats: A cross-sectional study, Veterinary World, 17(7): 1611-1618.

Received: 2024-05-06 Accepted: 2024-06-28 Published online: 2024-07-26

Corresponding author: Lysandro Pinto Borges E-mail: lysandro.borges@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.1611-1618

Copyright: Santos, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.