A serological survey of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in in uhan

Zhao, Ya; Yang, Yong; Gao, Jindong; Huang, Kun; Hu, Changmin; Hui, Xianfeng; He, Xinglin; Li, Chengfei; Gong, Wenxiao; Lv, Changjie; Zhang, Yufei; Chen, Huanchun; Zou, Zhong; Zhang, Qiang; Jin, Meilin

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has resulted in an unprecedented public health crisis and economic losses. Although several cases of cats and dogs infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 have been reported during this outbreak, the prevalence of SARS‐CoV‐2 in dog and its transmission among other companion animals are still unknown. Here, we report an extensive serological study of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in dogs in Wuhan and analyze the infection rates at different stages of the pandemic outbreak. A total of 946 dogs serum samples were collected from Wuhan, of which 36 samples were obtained prior to the pandemic outbreak. Indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that 16 sera collected during the outbreak were detected as positive through the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS‐CoV‐2. Of these 16 sera, 10 exhibited measurable SARS‐CoV‐2 specific neutralizing antibodies whose titers ranged from 1/20 to 1/180. No serological cross‐reactivity was detected between SARS‐CoV‐2 and canine coronavirus (CCV). Furthermore, with the effective control of the outbreak, a decrease in the SARS‐CoV‐2 seropositive dog number was observed. Our results suggest that SARS‐CoV‐2 has infected companion dogs during the outbreak, and that COVID‐19 patient families have a higher risk of dog infection. Our findings deepen our understanding of the infection of SARS‐CoV‐2 in dogs and provide an important reference for prevention of COVID‐19.