Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Humans to Pets, Washington and Idaho, USA

• DOI: 10.3201/eid2812.220215
• Publication Date: 2022-11-14T12:42:28Z
• Authors: Julianne Meisner; Timothy V. Baszler; Kathryn E. Kuehl; Vickie Ramirez; Anna Baines; Lauren A. Frisbie; Eric T. Lofgren; David M. de Avila; Rebecca M. Wolking; Dan S. Bradway; Hannah R. Wilson; Beth Lipton; Vance Kawakami; Peter M. Rabinowitz
• Keywords: Washington; Family Characteristics; SARS-CoV-2; coronaviruses; Research; Idaho; R; COVID-19; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Pets; Cat Diseases; 3. Good health; Dogs; coronavirus disease; Cats; Medicine; Humans; Animals; viruses; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

SARS-CoV-2 likely emerged from an animal reservoir. However, the frequency of and risk factors for interspecies transmission remain unclear. We conducted a community-based study in Idaho, USA, of pets in households that had >1 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans. Among 119 dogs and 57 cats, clinical signs consistent with SARS-CoV-2 were reported for 20 dogs (21%) and 19 cats (39%). Of 81 dogs and 32 cats sampled, 40% of dogs and 43% of cats were seropositive, and 5% of dogs and 8% of cats were PCR positive. This discordance might be caused by delays in sampling. Respondents commonly reported close human‒animal contact and willingness to take measures to prevent transmission to their pets. Reported preventive measures showed a slightly protective but nonsignificant trend for both illness and seropositivity in pets. Sharing of beds and bowls had slight harmful effects, reaching statistical significance for sharing bowls and seropositivity.