A new coronavirus known as SARS‐CoV‐2 emerged in Wuhan in 2019 and spread rapidly to the rest of the world causing the pandemic disease named coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID‐19). Little information is known about the impact this virus can cause upon domestic and stray animals. The potential impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 has become of great interest in cats due to transmission among domestic cats and the severe phenotypes described recently in a domestic cat. In this context, there is a public health warning that needs to be investigated in relation with the epidemiological role of this virus in stray cats. Consequently, in order to know the impact of the possible transmission chain, blood samples were obtained from 114 stray cats in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) and tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 and other selected pathogens susceptible to immunosuppression including Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania infantum, feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) from January to October 2020. Four cats (3.51%), based on enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen, were seroreactive to SARS‐CoV‐2. T. gondii, L. infantum, FeLV and FIV seroprevalence was 12.28%, 16.67%, 4.39% and 19.30%, respectively. Among seropositive cats to SARS‐CoV‐2, three cats were also seropositive to other pathogens including antibodies detected against T. gondii and FIV (n = 1); T. gondii (n = 1); and FIV and L. infantum (n = 1). The subjects giving positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 were captured in urban areas of the city in different months: January 2020 (2/4), February 2020 (1/4) and July 2020 (1/4). This study revealed, for the first time, the exposure of stray cats to SARS‐CoV‐2 in Spain and the existence of concomitant infections with other pathogens including T. gondii, L. infantum and FIV, suggesting that immunosuppressed animals might be especially susceptible to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.

Background: Feline leishmaniosis is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Leishmania spp. Leishmania infection in dogs is prevalent in the Mediterranean basin, but in other animals, such as cats, it could also play a role in the epidemiology of the disease. Information on the geographical distribution and epidemiological features of L. infantum infection in cats is scarce, particularly in urban stray cats living in regions where canine leishmaniosis is endemic. As diagnosis can be challenging, combining different serological and molecular methods is a useful approach. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of infection of L. infantum in apparently healthy stray cats in an endemic region of Spain (Zaragoza city) using serological and molecular methods, and to compare the results of the different techniques. Methods: The prevalence of Leishmania infection was studied in stray cats captured in urban and peri-urban areas of Zaragoza. Blood was collected from each animal for serology and molecular analysis. Three serological methods, namely the immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot (WB), were used to detect L. infantum antibodies and a real-time PCR (qPCR) assay was used to detect L. infantum DNA. The results were analyzed by Fisher’s exact test and Cohen’s kappa statistic (κ) to assess the level of agreement between the diagnostic techniques. Results: Serological analysis of blood samples from 180 stray cats revealed 2.2% (4/179) Leishmania infection positivity by IFAT, 2.8% (5/179) by ELISA and 14.5% (26/179) by WB. Leishmania DNA was detected by qPCR in 5.6% (10/179) of the cats. Sixteen cats (8.9%) tested positive by only one serological technique and four tested positive by all three serological methods used. The overall rate of infected cats (calculated as the number of cats seropositive and/or qPCR positive) was 15.6%, and only two cats tested positive by all the diagnostic methods. A significant association was found between male cats and a positive qPCR result. Comparison of the techniques revealed a fair agreement in seropositivity between blood qPCR and IFAT (κ = 0.26), blood qPCR and ELISA (κ = 0.24), WB and ELISA (κ = 0.37) and WB and IFAT (κ = 0.40). The highest agreement between seropositive results was between IFAT and ELISA (κ = 0.89), and the lowest was between blood qPCR and WB (κ = 0.19). The prevalence of the feline leukemia virus antigen was 4.49% (8/178 cats) and that of the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) antibody was 6.74% (12/178), while co-infection with both retroviruses was observed in one female cat (1/178). Leishmania ELISA and IFAT seropositivity were statistically associated with FIV status by the chi-square test. Conclusions: The results obtained in this study, using serological tests and qPCR, indicate the existence of L. infantum asymptomatic infection in apparently healthy stray cats in the city of Zaragoza, an endemic area in Spain. Graphical

Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLV) are highly prevalent retroviruses with significant genetic diversity and antigenic heterogeneity that cause a progressive wasting disease of sheep called Maedi-visna. This work provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of the last 40 years (1981–2020) of scientific publications on SRLV individual and flock prevalence. Fifty-eight publications and 314 studies were included. Most articles used a single diagnostic test to estimate prevalence (77.6%), whereas articles using three or more tests were scarce (6.9%). Serological tests are more frequently used than direct methods and ELISA has progressively replaced AGID over the last decades. SRLV infection in sheep is widespread across the world, with Europe showing the highest individual prevalence (40.9%) and being the geographical area in which most studies have been performed. Africa, Asia, and North America show values between 16.7% to 21.8% at the individual level. South and Central America show the lowest individual SRLV prevalence (1.7%). There was a strong positive correlation between individual and flock prevalence (ρ = 0.728; p ≤ 0.001). Despite the global importance of small ruminants, the coverage of knowledge on SRLV prevalence is patchy and inconsistent. There is a lack of a gold standard method and a defined sampling strategy among countries and continents.

Animal infections with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported in different countries and several animal species have been proven to be susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2 both naturally and by experimental infection. Moreover, infections under natural conditions in more than 20 mink farms have been reported where humans could have been the source of infection for minks. However, little information is available about the susceptibility of pet animals under natural conditions and currently there is no SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological assessment occurrence in household ferrets. In this study, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was evaluated in serum samples obtained from 127 household ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) in the Province of Valencia (Spain). Two ferrets tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 (1.57%) by in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen. Furthermore, anti-RBD SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persisted at detectable levels in a seropositive SARS-CoV-2 domestic ferret beyond 129 days since the first time antibodies were detected. This study reports for the first time the evidence of household pet ferrets exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Spain to date.

Piroplasmoses in sheep are caused by vector-borne apicomplexan protozoa, Babesia and Theileria. Different species are responsible for the disease; some species are more pathogenic than others and have a worldwide distribution. In this sense, these causative agents can cause anaemia in flocks. In general, these vector-borne diseases infect small ruminants and cause host-mediated pathology. In the case of Babesia species, a combination of different mechanisms is involved: red blood cell lysis due to intracellular parasite multiplication, activation of biogenic amines and the coagulation system with the possibility of disseminated intravascular coagulation. By contrast, less information is available on the different immunopathogenic mechanisms involved in the development of anaemia in sheep with theileriosis. However, the mechanisms of pathogenic action in theileriosis are similar to those studied in babesiosis. Diagnosis is based on compatible clinical signs, laboratory findings, specific diagnostic tests and the presence of the tick vector. Some of these tests detect the causative agent itself, such as direct identification by light microscopy and molecular analysis. In contrast, other tests detect the sheep’s immune response to the organism by serology. Both diseases pose a significant diagnostic challenge for veterinary practitioners around the world. This review presents the most frequent clinical signs, pathogenesis and clinicopathological findings, diagnosis.

Oral disorders constitute a significant cause of weight loss in sheep. In a study of disorders of the oral cavity of 36,033 sheep from 60 meat sheep flocks in Spain, we looked for management risk factors associated with chronic oral lesions. Mandibular and maxillary disorders were assessed as an external manifestation of oral lesions by palpation, searching for tissue swellings, fistulae, or open wounds. The prevalence of flocks containing sheep with jaw disorders was 98.3%, with an average individual prevalence of 5.5%. The majority of lesions were located in in the mid-region of the mandible, and the most relevant risk factor was increasing age. Use of acidic diets based on silage and inclusion of hard foods, such as maize straw or hay, was associated with the occurrence of jaw inflammation. It was concluded that hard diets containing plant material with edges and sharp areas, plus acidic foods including silage, are more likely to cause lesions of the gingiva, enabling entry of pathogens to the oral mucosa that eventually establish locally in bony tissues, usually as mandibular osteomyelitis. It was also observed that mineral supplementation appears to prevent the occurrence of these lesions.