Raccoon Dogs Reviewed for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Dispatch, Volume 26, Number 12, on November 19, 2020; Susceptibility of Raccoon Dogs for Experimental SARS-CoV-2 Infection, which is inserted below:

Raccoon dogs might have been intermediate hosts for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) in 2002–2004. 

Our experimental study demonstrates that raccoon dogs are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, in our research, raccoon dogs had only subtle clinical signs.

Additionally, we found evidence of viral replication and tissue lesions in only the nasal conchae, which can transmit the virus to direct in-contact animals.

Increasing evidence supports the potential of carnivore species, including farmed fur animals, to become infected by SARS-CoV-2.

This transmission could eventually cause zoonotic infections in humans.

Our results indicate that affected farms might be reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2.

Thus, efficient and continuous surveillance should target susceptible animals, including raccoon dogs, especially in China, which is a key player in global fur production.

We also need to initiate large-scale epidemiologic field studies with historical samples that might elucidate the role of farmed animals in the current pandemic.

This article was preprinted. Dr. Freuling is a research scientist at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.

Previously, the World Organisation for Animal Health reported on March 31, 2020, in Hong Kong that neither of the two dogs which were positive for SARS-CoV-2 showed clinical signs of COVID-19 infection.