Household clusters of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants contemporaneously sequenced from dogs and their owners

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 infects a broad diversity of mammals, with companion dogs and cats at risk of infection via close contact with infectious owners. Longitudinal studies sampling pets and their owners over time are essential to understanding within-household SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics. Our repeated sampling in households with people reporting COVID-19 found that 68% of the people in 43 households had active SARS-CoV-2 infection during at least one of the three sampling events. Although none of the 27 cats were positive, 3/55 dogs had active infections. Household clusters of three different Omicron subvariants were involved in these human-to-dog transmission events, and our data suggest reduced infection in pets during Omicron transmission compared with pre-Omicron waves. Protecting pets from SARS-CoV-2 infection remains important, as viral evolution can be accompanied by changes in the infectiousness of different hosts.