Transmission Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Animal Hosts
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has shown a remarkable ability to infect a broad range of animal species, leading to complex dynamics that encompass human-to-animal spillovers, intra-species transmission and occasional spillback to humans. Transmission routes vary by host ecology, including direct contact, aerosol spread and environmental contamination. Susceptibility is determined by species-specific receptor compatibility and social behaviour, facilitating enzootic cycles in wildlife, farmed populations and companion animals. Monitoring these processes is essential to detect emerging variants, guide biosecurity measures and integrate One Health strategies for pandemic preparedness worldwide.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Studies of free-ranging white-tailed deer across North America have documented over a hundred independent introductions of SARS-CoV-2 from humans, followed by sustained deer-to-deer transmission and rare spillback events to people. Large-scale serological surveys of household pets in Europe have detected neutralising antibodies in a modest proportion of dogs and cats residing with infected owners, indicating subclinical exposure under natural conditions. Experimental infection of ferrets has demonstrated efficient viral spread via both direct contact and airborne routes, reproducing patterns of shedding and confirming that respiratory droplets and aerosols can drive rapid transmission among susceptible mammals.
Transmission Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Animal Hosts publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in transmission dynamics of sars-cov-2 in animal hosts across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Zoonosis: Transmission of a pathogen between animals and humans.
Spillover: The event by which a pathogen crosses from its original host species into a new host species.
Reservoir: A host population or environment in which a pathogen is maintained over time and from which infection can be transmitted to target hosts.
Enzootic: The constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease within an animal population in a given area.
Host tropism: The specificity of a pathogen for infecting particular species, determined by interactions such as receptor binding.
Pseudotyped virus: A laboratory-engineered virus expressing surface proteins of another virus, used to study entry mechanisms and host range safely.
References
- Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in free-ranging white-tailed deer in the United States. Nature Communications (2023).
- Evidence of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in cats and dogs from households in Italy. Nature Communications (2020).
- SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via contact and via the air between ferrets. Nature Communications (2020).
- Comparative susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV across mammals. The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology (2023).
- SARS-CoV-2 in lions, gorillas and zookeepers in the Rotterdam Zoo, the Netherlands, a One Health investigation, November 2021. Eurosurveillance (2023).
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