Figure 2.

SARS-CoV-2 viral lineages infect cats (Felis catus) and other animal species. As a result of the analysis of a total of 2515 reports associated with infections of SARS-CoV-2 in multiple animal species, 155 pangolin lineages were identified as responsible for these infections. The proportion of cases within species related to these lineages was analyzed by hierarchical cluster analysis to assess the relationship between lineages that affected Felis catus and other animal species during the pandemic. These species include the dog (Canis lupus familiaris), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), lion (Panthera leo), tiger (Panthera tigris), Western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), American mink (Neogale vison), house mouse (Mus musculus), Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), and pangolin (Manis javanica). Two main clusters were identified in the analysis. Cluster 2 (green) comprises the 12 more prevalent lineages among different species. The Y-left axe shows the SARS-CoV-2 pangolin lineages included in the analysis. Identification of these lineages included the genetic group/pangolin lineage. The number in the parenthesis next to each lineage indicates the proportion of this specific lineage among the total number of sequences reported in the GISAID database. Black asterisks reflect lineages where mortality was reported in cats. Numbers below animal species in the X-axis show the number of lineages reported during the infection in different species. At the same time, green asterisks indicate species where the prevalence of positive cases was statistically significantly higher in the lineages associated with cluster 2. The spectrum of colors ranges from cream to brown and reflects a low to high proportion of the reports related to specific pangolin lineages, respectively.