Browsing by Author "Goodrich, Erin L."

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    Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Cat with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
    Carvallo, Francisco R.; Martins, Mathias; Joshi, Lok R.; Caserta, Leonardo C.; Mitchell, Patrick K.; Cecere, Thomas E.; Hancock, Sandy; Goodrich, Erin L.; Murphy, Julia; Diel, Diego G. (MDPI, 2021-07-31)
    Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), has claimed millions of human lives worldwide since the emergence of the zoonotic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in China in December 2019. Notably, most severe and fatal SARS-CoV-2 infections in humans have been associated with underlying clinical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. Here, we describe a case of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in a domestic cat (Felis catus) that presented with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a chronic heart condition that has been described as a comorbidity of COVID-19 in humans and that is prevalent in domestic cats. The lung and heart of the affected cat presented clear evidence of SARS-CoV-2 replication, with histological lesions similar to those observed in humans with COVID-19 with high infectious viral loads being recovered from these organs. The study highlights the potential impact of comorbidities on the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals and provides important information that may contribute to the development of a feline model with the potential to recapitulate the clinical outcomes of severe COVID-19 in humans.