PONE-D-23-31869Spatial and temporal clustering of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Illinois household cats, 2021- 2023PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Varga,

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Additional Editor Comments:

Sorry for the delay, but it seems that the survey of anti-sars-CoV-2 in cats is not in the current top priority of veterinarian, even those who publisched on the subject previously.

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: In the manuscript, the authors described the spatio-temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 serological results in cats in Illinois. The study is interesting, as it combines geographical, spatial and biological analyses. Through these multidisciplinary approaches, the authors pointed some spatial and geographical occurences. It also clearly support the hypothesis of a SARS-CoV-2 transmission from human toward cat.

Introduction section

Line 69: Dogs can be also infected by SARS-CoV-2. Please add this animal species in your list and justify why in this study, the authors choose to focus only on cat infections.

Result section

The cat sera were tested with different methodologies for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody: ELISA, Luminex and seroneutralisation (D614G and Omicron). Please indicate the results for each methodologies in a supplemental table. Moreover, it would be intersting to add the titer of seroneutralisation for each virus tests.With these results, the authors could evaluate by which variant the cats have been infected. It would be an interesting supplementary information.

Line 368: Specify whether you reported the human cases in Illinois or in United States in figure 8

Discussion section

Lines 400-402: In this study, the authors found the higesht seropositivity in young cats. In the discussion, they should add the possibility that older cats may have been previously infected by SARS-CoV-2. They could also discuss the possiblity of cross-protection or not by previous feline coronavirus infection

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Reviewer #1: No

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Spatial and temporal clustering of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Illinois household cats, 2021- 2023

PONE-D-23-31869R1

Dear Dr. Varga,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Pierre Roques, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: