Jianzhong Shi*, Zhiyuan Wen*, Gongxun Zhong*, Huanliang Yang*, Chong Wang*, Baoying Huang*, Renqiang Liu, Xijun He, Lei Shuai, Ziruo Sun, Yubo Zhao, Peipei Liu, Libin Liang, Pengfei Cui, Jinliang Wang, Xianfeng Zhang, Yuntao Guan, Wenjie Tan, Guizhen Wu†, Hualan Chen†, Zhigao Bu†

Science. 2020 Apr 8. pii: eabb7015. doi: 10.1126/science.abb7015. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the infectious disease COVID-19, which was first reported in Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Despite the tremendous efforts to control the disease, COVID-19 has now spread to over 100 countries and caused a global pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have originated in bats; however, the intermediate animal sources of the virus are completely unknown. Here, we investigated the susceptibility of ferrets and animals in close contact with humans to SARS-CoV-2. We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, but ferrets and cats are permissive to infection. We found experimentally that cats are susceptible to airborne infection. Our study provides important insights into the animal models for SARS-CoV-2 and animal management for COVID-19 control.