Assessing the Potential Role of Cats (Felis catus) as Generators of Relevant SARS-CoV-2 Lineages during the Pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Several questions regarding the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 remain poorly elucidated. One of these questions is the possible evolutionary impact of SARS-CoV-2 after the infection in domestic animals. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential role of cats as generators of relevant SARS-CoV-2 lineages during the pandemic. A total of 105 full-length genome viral sequences obtained from naturally infected cats during the pandemic were evaluated by distinct evolutionary algorithms. Analyses were enhanced, including a set of highly related SARS-CoV-2 sequences recovered from human populations. Our results showed the apparent high susceptibility of cats to the infection SARS-CoV-2 compared with other animal species. Evolutionary analyses indicated that the phylogenomic characteristics display

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Romero N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10675002 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature