Vol. 9, Issue 9, Part B (2025)

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has continued to circulate among humans and caused numerous COVID-19 outbreaks since its emergence in late 2019. In addition to humans, the virus has caused spillover infection events in various animal species, including both companion and wild animals. Since dogs are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and are in direct contact with their owners, it is important to assess the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in dogs. Several studies have been conducted worldwide since 2019 to investigate COVID-19 exposure in companion animals. In this study, we estimated the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in dogs presented at a veterinary clinic between May 2021 and February 2022. To perform serological and molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2, serum and swab samples (nasal and rectal) were collected from 83 dogs. Neutralizing antibodies against the virus were detected in 25 out of 83 serum samples (30.12%). All the positive serum samples were subjected to a plaque reduction neutralization test and were found to be positive. However, all collected swab samples tested negative by RT-qPCR. This study confirmed the circulation of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in dogs. Furthermore, seropositivity to SARS-CoV-2 in dogs was found to be comparable to the number of human cases at a given point in time. The present study suggests a probable spillover of the virus from humans to dogs during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.