- Rotstein, David S;
- Peloquin, Sarah;
- Proia, Kathleen;
- Hart, Ellen;
- Lee, Jeongha;
- Vyhnal, Kristin K;
- Sasaki, Emi;
- Balamayooran, Gayathriy;
- Asin, Javier;
- Southard, Teresa;
- Rothfeldt, Laura;
- Venkat, Heather;
- Mundschenk, Peter;
- McDermott, Darby;
- Crossley, Beate;
- Ferro, Pamela;
- Gomez, Gabriel;
- Henderson, Eileen H;
- Narayan, Paul;
- Paulsen, Daniel B;
- Rekant, Steven;
- Schroeder, Megan E;
- Tell, Rachel M;
- Torchetti, Mia Kim;
- Uzal, Francisco A;
- Carpenter, Ann;
- Ghai, Ria
Documented natural infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in exotic and companion animals following human exposures are uncommon. Those documented in animals are typically mild and self-limiting, and infected animals have only infrequently died or been euthanized. Through a coordinated One Health initiative, necropsies were conducted on 5 animals from different premises that were exposed to humans with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The combination of epidemiologic evidence of exposure and confirmatory real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing confirmed infection in 3 cats and a tiger. A dog was a suspect case based on epidemiologic evidence of exposure but tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Four animals had respiratory clinical signs that developed 2 to 12 days after exposure. The dog had bronchointerstitial pneumonia and the tiger had bronchopneumonia; both had syncytial-like cells with no detection of SARS-CoV-2. Individual findings in the 3 cats included metastatic mammary carcinoma, congenital renal disease, and myocardial disease. Based on the necropsy findings and a standardized algorithm, SARS-CoV-2 infection was not considered the cause of death in any of the cases. Continued surveillance and necropsy examination of animals with fatal outcomes will further our understanding of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals and the potential role of the virus in development of lesions.