First genome sequencing of SARS‐CoV‐2 recovered from an infected cat and its owner in Latin America

Carlos, Renata Santiago Alberto; Mariano, Ana Paula Melo; Maciel, Bianca Mendes; Gadelha, Sandra Rocha; de Melo Silva, Mylene; Belitardo, Emilia Maria Medeirosde Andrade; Rocha, Danilo Jobim Passos Gil; de Almeida, João Paulo Pereira; Pacheco, Luis Gustavo Carvalho; Aguiar, Eric Roberto Guimarães Rocha; Fehlberg, Hllytchaikra Ferraz; Albuquerque, George Rego

An 11‐year‐old male mixed‐breed cat, with exclusively indoor life, presented 3 cough episodes after the owners tested positive by RT‐PCR for SARS‐CoV‐2. The house is inhabited by 5 people (3 adults and 2 children), and 2 of the adults have shown mild symptoms associated with throat discomfort. The cat was vaccinated, had no history of any previous disease, and tested negative for feline coronavirus (FCoV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV). Rectal sample collected from the cat was positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 by RT‐PCR. Viral genome sequences recovered from human and cat samples showed an average 99.4% sequence identity. This is the first report of genome sequences of SARS‐CoV‐2 recovered from a cat and its owner in Latin America.