Krafft E. auteur aut IRD Denolly S. auteur aut IRD Boson B. auteur aut IRD Angelloz-Pessey S. auteur aut IRD Levaltier S. auteur aut IRD Nesi N. auteur aut IRD Corbet S. auteur aut IRD Leterrier B. auteur aut IRD Fritz Matthieu auteur aut IRD Leroy Eric auteur aut IRD Gouilh M. A. auteur aut IRD Cosset F. L. auteur aut IRD Kodjo A. auteur aut IRD Legros V. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Despite the probable zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-2, only limited research efforts have been made to understand the role of companion animals in SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology. According to recent serological prevalence studies, human-to-companion animal transmission is quite frequent, which led us to consider that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from animal to human, albeit negligible in the present context, may have been underestimated. In this study, we provide the results of a prospective survey that was conducted to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 isolation rate by qRT-PCR in dogs and cats with different exposure risks and clinical statuses. From April 2020 to April 2021, we analyzed 367 samples and investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA using qRT-PCR. Only four animals tested positive, all of them being cats. Three cats were asymptomatic and one presented a coryza-like syndrome. We describe in detail the infection in two cats and the associated clinical characteristics. Importantly, we obtained SARS-CoV-2 genomes from one infected animal and characterized them as Alpha variants. This represents the first identification of the SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant in an infected animal in France. specialized SARS-CoV-2 variants prevalence sequencing zoonosis FRANCE 052 080 13 9 1759 [12 p.] 2021 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010083191 10.3390/v13091759 [F B010083191] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010083191 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-11/010083191.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2021-11-10 2025-02-24 fdi:010083191 fre