Elsevier

One Health

Volume 13, December 2021, 100328
One Health

Management following the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in a domestic cat associated with a massive outbreak in South Korea

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2021.100328Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Objectives

We analyzed how the virus spreads to local communities, based on the results of an epidemiological investigation of a religious facility in which a large group of patients was infected. Furthermore, we report for the first time in South Korea that a domestic cat was infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Methods

An epidemiological investigation was conducted to investigate the group outbreak. In addition, to verify cat–cat or cat–human transmission, we monitored whether exposed cats or humans were infected. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the viral full-length genome test was conducted on the positive samples from both owners and the cats.

Results

Total number of SARS-CoV-2 cases rose from 78 individuals, who visited a religious facility who were involved in 42 transmitted cases in the community, either through close contact with household members (47.62%) or through a group outbreak (16.67%). We observed an infected cat as well as individuals to which they were exposed. However, neither—further—cat to cat nor cat to human transmission occurred.

Conclusions

COVID-19 can be transmitted from humans to animals under certain conditions. Therefore, monitoring and studying the transmission of COVID-19, a novel infectious disease, between humans and animals is necessary through the One Health approach.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Animal transmission
Community

Cited by (0)

1

These authors contributed equally to this article.