SARS-CoV-2 exposure in hunting and stray dogs of southern Italy

Evidence of exposure to the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 has been described in numerous animal species, including pets, which are predisposed to coming into contact with this virus due to their close relationship with owners. It has been accepted that dogs are poorly susceptible to this virus and that seroconversion, rather than shedding, occurs following infection, which can occur directly through contact with infected owners or indirectly through environmental contamination. In this study, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated in apparently health hunting and stray dogs of Campania region, southern Italy (sampled in September 2023). A total of 5/112 (4.5%) animals tested seropositive using two different commercial ELISAs. Stray animals had greater exposure than hunting dogs. The feces and blood of each animal were tested with a real-time PCR targeting the nucleocapsid and ORF1ab coding sequences. No animal tested positive in molecular investigations, indicating a past exposure without active infection at the time of sampling.