You can pass the COVID to your cat, research finds

(HealthDay)-Even your beloved cat is not safe from COVID-19.

Detailed use Gene analysisA new study in the UK suggests that people can pass COVID-19 to their cats.

“We identified two cats that tested positive,” said Margaret Hosey, lead author of the study. “Both were from households suspected of having COVID-19.”

One case included a 6 year old female Siamese. Last May, the cat had prominent nose and eye secretions. A cotton swab sample was taken from the affected area and tested for signs of respiratory infection.

The virus gene sequences found in these samples “revealed very similar sequences to isolates from (COVID-19) infected individuals in the same region of the United Kingdom,” a comparison virus with MRC. Hosie, a professor of scholarship, said. Center for Virus Research, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Another case was a 4-month-old ragdoll kitten who died of severe respiratory illness in April 2020. Postmortem examination revealed that the kitten was infected with COVID-19 after being exposed to human SARS-CoV-2. sick.

So how common is human-to-cat transmission?

Dorothy Bienzul, a professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, said this was fairly common. However, case variability may depend on the proximity of the COVID-19 patient to the pet.

If my cat becomes infected after being exposed to human COVID-19, will I be given a serious illness? No, Keith Paulsen, director of the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Institute in Madison, said.

“COVID-induced clinical illnesses for domesticated pets are extremely rare,” said Poulsen. “We don’t test all animals, but we’re collaborating in a study with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and know that pets in households with COVID are more likely to be tested for COVID. However, it rarely shows clinical symptoms. Our data show signs and do not require veterinary intervention. The only abnormalities here are ferret and mink. They are infected with COVID. I will. “

“We can’t rule out the possibility of the virus being transmitted from cats to humans,” said Horsey, as to whether the dynamics of the infection would be reversed.

And she added, it would be a difficult question to answer. “Because you can never expose an uninfected person to an infected cat to determine if a cat-to-human transmission will occur.”

Still, Paulsen suggests that while the possibility cannot be ruled out, it is not overly concerned.

“We, Companion animal With the exception of ferrets and minks, they play an important role in communicating to people, “he said. This is unlikely to happen at a rate that is significant or requires intervention, but it is not zero. “

His conclusion: “I still don’t believe that cats and dogs play an important role in the ecology of COVID-19 disease in humans, animals and the environment,” Poulsen emphasized.

Perhaps so, the authors of the study concluded that “it will be important to monitor human-to-cat, cat-to-cat, and cat-to-human transmission.”

When it comes to dogs, dogs that both Hosie and Poulsen agree on appear to have an advantage over their cat friends when it comes to human coronavirus vulnerabilities.

“Dog is susceptible to infection, but less often than cats,” Hosey said.

Paulsen agrees, “Science is Cat It is more likely to replicate more viruses than dogs. “

This study was conducted on April 22 Veterinary record..

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay.. all rights reserved.