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SAO PAULO – The medical case of a cat treated at a veterinary hospital in Catalonia, Spain, brings new evidence that domestic cats contract and transmit the new coronavirus, but the little Covid-19 gets sick. The animal, whose owner had died from the disease, was received with severe respiratory problems and was euthanized to avoid pain and suffering.
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Because it was one of the first suspicions of serious respiratory problems, the body of the animal ended up being sent for necropsy in a high security laboratory. The result of the procedure was described on Friday (18) in a study published by the scientific journal PNAS, of the US National Academy of Sciences. In the article, the scientists describe the story of Negrito, a Persian cat mixed with a four year old european cat.
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When it arrived at the Barcelona Animal Health Research Center (Irta-Cresa), scientists soon realized that, in fact, the animal had been infected with Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. What ended up killing the feline, however, was “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy”, a disease characterized by an inflammation of the heart that compromises its movements.
The problem, according to the scientists, was not related to the coronavirus, although it evolved into pulmonary edema and thrombosis.
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“No evidence of viral pneumonia was found, and Sars-CoV-2 was not detected in the lung,” write the scientists, led by Joaquim Segalés. In Negrito’s heart tissue and other damaged organs of the animal, there was also no virus, which appeared in the body only superficially, in the snout and in the upper respiratory tract.
The finding of the infection, however, is cause for concern, the researchers say, because it is unclear what role it plays in the transmission core of the Covid-19 in which it lived. After Negrito’s owner died of Covid-19, the cat was adopted by relatives of the Spaniards, who lived in another house, all of whom were also diagnosed with the coronavirus.
Reverse zoonosis
According to the researchers, it is unclear whether Negrito played a role in the spread of the disease. Suspected cases of “reverse zoonosis”, in which the pathogen is transmitted from humans to animals, are less studied in the scientific literature than common zoonosis episodes, from animals to humans.
The Irta-Cresa scientists looked for other work and only raised confirmed cases of reverse zoonosis in four dogs, six cats, eight large zoo cats (five tigers and six lions) and some weasels on fur farms.
However, due to the proximity that cats have, and because of their common presence in small houses around the world, scientists believe that it is necessary to better understand the dynamics of Covid-19 in the relationship between felines and humans.
“As the susceptibility of domestic cats is now well established, extensive studies on the prevalence of Sars-CoV-2 in these animals are needed to precisely understand the role of this species in the Covid-19 pandemic,” write Segalés and his colleagues.
“Although it is highly speculative that Sars-Cov-2 may aggravate pre-existing diseases in cats and other animals, it would be important to ensure that this can occur.”
Negrito’s case was reported by the local Catalan press in May as the first cat in the country diagnosed by Covid-19. However, only now, with a study already undergoing independent review, is it clear that it was not the virus that killed the animal. The good news brought by the scientists is that Whiskey, Negrito’s roommate, is fine and has apparently not contracted the pathogen.
In the study, the researchers thank the cat’s last owners, Esther and Carla Zamora, for donating the cat’s body to science.
