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Topic: pets & pandemicsPosted By: Dutch Josh 2
Subject: pets & pandemics
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2025 at 10:10pm
https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/02/preprint-active-surveillance-of.html - https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/02/preprint-active-surveillance-of.html or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/02/preprint-active-surveillance-of.html (DJ-Very good story-so I copy all of it !)
Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Preprint: Active Surveillance of Companion Animals During The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Reveals > 25% Infected
#18,600
While we think of zoonotic diseases as primarily a threat to humans, the last two pandemics (H1N1 & COVID) - and the rise of HPAI H5 - have demonstrated that companion animals, along with many other species of wildlife, can be equally susceptible to a mammalian adapted virus.
Although this can have grave consequences for the infected animal, it can also provide a novel virus with a new reservoir host - one which may allow it to spread, and evolve - and then spill back into humans.
Until just over 20 years ago, dogs and cats were thought unlikely to be infected with influenza A viruses. That is, until https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2015/10/hpai-h5-catch-as-cats-can.html - large cats in South East Asian zoos began to die after consuming H5N1 infected poultry , and greyhounds at a racetrack became infected with equine H3N8 (see http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm - EID Journal article http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/6/07-1270_article - Influenza A Virus (H3N8) in Dogs with Respiratory Disease, Florida ).
Three years later (2007), another https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/14/5/07-1471_article - avian H3N2 virus jumped from poultry to dogs - this time in South Korea - and after spreading across China for a few years, it began its world tour. It arrived in the United States in 2015 (see https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2015/04/cdcs-key-facts-on-new-h3n2-canine-flu.html - CDC’s Key Facts On The New H3N2 Canine Flu ).
During the 2009 pandemic we saw scattered reports of dogs and cats infected with the H1N1 virus (see 2012's https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2012/10/companion-animals-reverse-zoonosis.html - Companion Animals & Reverse Zoonosis ), while in 2016 we saw https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2016/12/nyc-health-dept-statement-on-avian-h7n2.html - an outbreak of avian H7N2 in animal shelters in NYC, which infected hundreds of cats, https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2017/11/eid-journal-avian-h7n2-virus-in-human.html - and spilled back into humans.
In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in China, and while it was exquisitely suited for human transmission, it also quickly found a home in a number of other mammalian species.
In November of that year, our attentions were focused on a mink variant that had successfully jumped back into Denmark's human population (see https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2020/12/denmark-ssi-increased-mink-variant.html - Denmark SSI: Increased Mink Variant COVID In Human Population - COVID Risk Assessment ).
A few months later, we learned the https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2021/03/cdc-investigating-possible-mink-to.html - CDC was Investigating Possible Mink-To-Human Transmission Of SARS-CoV-2 In The United States .
In late 2021, we saw https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2021/11/two-new-reports-find-widespread-sars.html - Two New Reports Find Widespread SARS-CoV-2 In North American Deer .
Since then, dozens of other species have been found capable of hosting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the potential for someday seeing a new, mutated, version to spill back into the human population remains (see https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/10/nature-study-on-sentinel-hosts-for.html - Nature: Study on Sentinel Hosts for Surveillance of Future COVID-19-like Outbreaks ).
While sample sizes, and the percentage of positive tests, may vary between studies, cats appear to be more susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 virus than dogs, and are more likely to be symptomatic.
Today we've a new report - in a pre-print on the https://www.biorxiv.org/ - bioRxiv server - from researchers at the CDC, the USDA and Texas AM University, on the active surveillance of companion animals for the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the first two years of COVID.
I've only included the abstract, and conclusion from the 31-page report, so follow the link to read it in its entirety. I'll have a postscript after you return.
Alex Pauvolid-Correa, Edward Davila, Lisa Auckland, Italo B. Zecca, Rachel E Busselman, Wendy Tang, Christopher M. Roundy, Mary Lea Killian, Mia Kim Torchetti, Melinda Jenkins-Moore, Suelee Robbe-Austerman, Kristina Lantz, Katherine Mozingo, Rachel Tell, Ailam Lim, Yao Akpalu, Rebecca S. B. Fischer, Francisco C. Ferreira, Gabriel L. Hamer, Sarah A. Hamer
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.02.03.636361
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.03.636361v1.full.pdf+html - - Preview PDF
Abstract
Households where people have COVID-19 are high risk environments for companion animals that are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. We sampled 579 pets from 281 households with one or more laboratory-confirmed person with COVID-19 in central Texas from June 2020 to May 2021.
Nineteen out of 396 (4.8%) dogs and 21 out of 157 (13.4%) cats were positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR. Additionally, 95/382 (25%) dogs and 52/146 (36%) cats harbored SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Twenty-six companion animals of ten other species were negative.
Overall, 164 (29%) pets were positive for SARS-CoV-2 by molecular and/or serological tests; a total of 110 (39%) out of 281 households had at least one animal with active or past SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cats were more likely to be infected by SARS-CoV-2 and had higher endpoint antibody titers than dogs. Through viral isolation from a subset of respiratory swabs, we documented 6 different lineages in dogs and cats, including the B.1.1 lineage in a cat one month prior to the first known human case in the country.
We observed animal and human-pet interaction factors associated with higher risk of infection for dogs and cats, such as days after COVID-19 diagnosis and sharing food. Frequency of clinical signs of disease reported by owners of pets with active infections did not differ from uninfected ones, suggesting that not all reported signs are attributed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Characterizing animal infections using active SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in pets at risk of infection may aid in One Health pandemic prevention, response, and management.
(SNIP)
Conclusion
Pet infections were not uncommon in households where an infected human resided, with roughly 30% of dogs and cats having SARS-CoV-2 infection in 39% of the 281 households sampled. Cats were more likely to be positive by RT-qPCR and by virus neutralization test than dogs.
Given the median number of days elapsed from the day of human COVID-19 diagnosis to sample collection from household pets that ultimately tested RT-qPCR-positive for SARS-CoV 2 was only 6-7 days, we suggest that future pet surveillance studies in such high-risk environments prioritize sample collection within a week of human diagnosis.
Sharing food and sleeping in the same room with infected people were associated with increased risk for companion animal infection in households with people with COVID-19. Therefore, preventive measures including the restriction or at least the reduction of close contact between people with COVID-19 and pets protect pets from SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Despite reports of symptomatic pets testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, our study shows that infected pets were not more likely to have clinical signs than uninfected pets, and so passive surveillance pipelines that rely on testing of symptomatic animals only may be less useful than active surveillance. Additionally, we showed that pets can signal viral lineages contemporaneously present in human populations, sometimes at nearly the same time as the first human reports of distinct lineages, emphasizing that genomic surveillance efforts should also include pets.
Characterizing animal infections using active SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in pets at risk of infection using the One Health approach is a critical step to effectively address pandemic prevention, response, and management.
Officially, the USDA https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sars-cov-2 - only lists 406 companion animals in the United States with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection - but given there are roughly https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics - 90 million dogs and 74 million domestic cats in the United States - it is safe to assume that millions were likely infected with COVID.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sars-cov-2">
Similarly, the https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/mammals - USDA currently lists 99 domestic cats infected with H5N1 , but that number is undoubtedly much higher, even without the virus spreading efficiently among humans.
While studies are limited, we've seen worrisome signs of mammalian adaptations among infected cats (see https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/12/emerg-microbes-inf-marked-neurotropism.html - Emerg. Microbes & Inf.: Marked Neurotropism and Potential Adaptation of H5N1 Clade 2.3.4.4.b Virus in Naturally Infected Domestic Cats ).
Understanding how SARS-CoV-2 transited through - and affected - companion animals during the COVID pandemic may help us better understand what H5N1 might be doing today. And if H5 fizzles, there will always be another viral contender on the horizon.
While its roots go back more than 100 years, over the past two decades the importance of `One Health' - the interconnectedness between human, animal, and environmental health - has gained a lot of traction.
In 2014, in http://www.oie.int/doc/ged/D14089.PDF - Emerging zoonotic viral diseasesL.-F. Wang (1, 2) * & G. Crameri wrote:
The last 30 years have seen a rise in emerging infectious diseases in humans and of these over 70% are zoonotic (2, 3). Zoonotic infections are not new. They have always featured among the wide range of human diseases and most, e.g. anthrax, tuberculosis, plague, yellow fever and influenza, have come from domestic animals, poultry and livestock. However, with changes in the environment, human behaviour and habitat, increasingly these infections are emerging from wildlife species.
While we spend a lot of time in this blog looking at seemingly arcane topics - like https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/01/eid-journal-henipavirus-in-northern.html - Henipaviruses in Northern Short-Tailed Shrews in Alabama or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/01/eid-journal-detection-of-chronic.html - Chronic Wasting Disease in North American Elk , or https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2024/08/vet-quarterly-hpai-virus-h5n1-clade.html - HPAI Virus H5N1 in Wild Rats in Egyp t - everything is interconnected
And you never know from where the next big public health threat will emerge.
Posted by https://www.blogger.com/profile/07982161449334601397 - at https://afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/02/preprint-active-surveillance-of.html -
Replies: Posted By: Dutch Josh 2
Date Posted: 05 Feb 2025 at 10:20pm
DJ, Pets are not only part of the pandemics-they are also making pandemics worse !
Cats, dogs etc. may have their own (viral) diseases-if that get mixed with human diseases we may see new types/variants of CoViD, flu etc.
One may limit risks by keeping cats indoors, try to avoid dogs getting in contact with dead animals/droppings...
Very vulnerable people may be "better of" with robot-pets-if one looks at virus-risks...
https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2025/01/articles/animals/cats/h5n1-influenza-in-a-cat-oregon/ - https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2025/01/articles/animals/cats/h5n1-influenza-in-a-cat-oregon/ or https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2025/01/articles/animals/cats/h5n1-influenza-in-a-cat-oregon/ ;
Nonetheless, https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/health/2025/01/24/bird-flu-oregon-cat-avian-influenza-h5n1-virus/77932687007/ - a recent case of H5N1 influenza in another cat in Oregon highlights something important, because it’s different from previous cases.
https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2024/12/articles/animals/cats/raw-pet-food-linked-to-fatal-h5n1-infection-in-cat-oregon-us/ - Most reported cases of H5N1 flu in cats to date have been of severe disease , usually with neurological signs, but it’s been unclear whether this is because infected cats typically get severe neurological disease or whether we’ve only been testing the cats with severe disease.
It remains unknown how often infected cats get milder disease, and that’s a really important testing consideration, for both clinical patients and surveillance testing.
Respiratory disease in very common in cats, especially outdoor cats. Knowing whether flu should be a consideration in your average cat with an upper respiratory tract infection is important for determining how they are managed in a clinic (to avoid transmission to staff and other patients) and how they should be managed at home (to avoid transmission to family members and other animals in ad around the home).
In contrast to previously described severe cases in cats, https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/health/2025/01/24/bird-flu-oregon-cat-avian-influenza-h5n1-virus/77932687007 - the recent case of H5N1 in a cat from Oregon was described as having a much more typical respiratory tract infection . “A veterinarian examined the cat after it exhibited symptoms including a fever, runny nose and eyes, lethargy, difficulty breathing and loss of appetite.”
Although difficulty breathing isn’t typical for a run-of-the-mill upper respiratory tract infection in a cat, it is consistent with pneumonia, which can occur secondary to any viral infection.
The news report is light on clinical details, but if this case was actually was more akin to a typical pneumonia that we might see in cat secondary to other more common bugs, it (long with a few other milder cases where cats have recovered) suggests that we need to vastly expand the cats we should consider potential H5N1 flu suspects.
It means we need to focus on more than just the severely ill cats with respiratory and neurological disease.
At the same time, it’s tough to say how wide a net we should cast, given the commonness of mild upper respiratory tract disease in cats.
DJ, Cats seem to be higher risks then dogs-very likely however indoor-cats may be less a risk then "outdoor dogs"...
Going to a vet for every snif in a pet is not much use...Testing for lots of diseases is limited and costly...
Long CoViD may explain long term illnesses in a pet..
Posted By: Dutch Josh 2
Date Posted: 06 Feb 2025 at 11:43pm
DJ, public info is NOT for sale ! Should NOT be behind any paywall-so for the public interest;
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare or https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare ;
C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People
The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.
Scientists have long known that cats are highly susceptible to the virus, but there had not previously been any documented cases of cats passing the virus to people.Credit...Ramsay de Give for The New York Times
Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.
In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.
The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.
The virus, called H5N1, is primarily adapted to birds, but it has been circulating in dairy cattle since early last year. H5N1 has also infected at least 67 Americans but does not yet have the ability to spread readily among people. Only one American, in Louisiana, has died of an H5N1 infection so far.
The report was part of the C.D.C.’s prestigious Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which, until two weeks ago, had regularly published every week since the first installment decades ago. But a communications ban on the agency had held the reports back, until the wildfire report was published on Wednesday.
Experts said that the finding that cats might have passed the virus to people was not entirely unexpected. But they were alarmed that the finding had not yet been released to the public.
“If there is new evidence about H5N1 that is been held up for political purposes, that is just completely at odds with what government’s responsibility is, which is to protect the American people,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health.
It was important that the C.D.C. immediately publish the full data and the context in which they were collected for other scientists to review, she said.
Scientists https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/health/bird-flu-cats-dogs-h5n1.html - have long known that cats are highly susceptible to the virus. At least 85 domestic cats https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/mammals - have been infected since late 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But there had not previously been any documented cases of cats passing the virus to people.
“Given the number of cats in the U.S. and the close contact with people, there is definitely a need to understand the potential risk,” said Dr. Diego Diel, a veterinarian and virologist at Cornell University.
Although cats may be infected when they prey on infected wild birds, cases among domestic cats in the United States began rising last year as the virus spread through dairy farms. On many farms, dead cats were the first signal that cows had been infected. Several recent cases in pet cats have also been linked to https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/health/bird-flu-cats-food.html - contaminated raw pet food or raw milk.
H5N1 is often fatal in cats, which may develop severe neurological symptoms.
Historically, H5N1 has primarily affected birds. But over the last several years, new versions of the virus have proved capable of infecting a wide range of mammals, including wild and domestic cats, seals and dairy cows. Infections in mammals give the virus more opportunities to evolve in ways that could allow it to infect humans more easily.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli - Apoorva Mandavilli reports on science and global health, with a focus on infectious diseases, pandemics and the public health agencies that try to manage them. https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli - More about Apoorva Mandavilli
https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-anthes - Emily Anthes is a science reporter, writing primarily about animal health and science. She also covered the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-anthes - More about Emily Anthes
https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-anthes">