Covid transmission 'common' in pet cats and dogs

[littlemissmartypants]

Covid transmission 'common' in pet cats and dogs
By Jim Reed
Health reporter
4 hours ago

Covid is common in pet cats and dogs whose owners have the disease, research suggests. Swabs were taken from 310 pets in 196 households where a human infection had been detected. Six cats and seven dogs returned a positive PCR result, while 54 animals tested positive for virus antibodies.

"If you have Covid, you should avoid contact with your cat or dog, just as you would do with other people," Dr Els Broens, from Utrecht University, said. "The main concern is not the animals' health but the potential risk that pets could act as a reservoir of the virus and reintroduce it into the human population."

The authors of the study said no evidence of pet-to-owner transmission had been recorded to date but it would be difficult to detect while the virus was still spreading easily between humans.

Most infected pets tend to be asymptomatic or display mild Covid symptoms.

Much more at the link:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57666245.amp

❤

[SheltieLover]

1. Ty for posting!

I'd seen this article & was going to post it.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. YW ❤ nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Really?

So I should worry about my cat who is never allowed outside?

[Ocelot II]

3. Not unless you or someone in your house has covid.

b

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Whew.

I live alone. Pretty sure I haven't had Covid, even non symptomatic. My cat almost never goes outside, and so I'm guessing I'm as safe as anyone can be these days.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I really wish people would actually read the articles. nt

[Ocelot II]

8. I actually did read the article.

[littlemissmartypants]

11. Clearly, you did. I wasn't thinking of you when I wrote the reply. ❤ nt

[Ocelot II]

12. Ah. Sorry.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Better wording would have been to say, "I'm glad some people actually read the articles." ❤ nt

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Yes, you should because the virus is transmitted by humans to their pets,

As determined by the study. So if you're infected and asymptomatic, you* may very well give it to your housebound pet.

*or your visiting friends and family who may be infected

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Oh, dear.

I'm fairly certain I've never gotten Covid. It's possible I have and have been totally asymptomatic, but honestly, I doubt that. I am somewhat unsocial, and have been very much unconnected with others in the past year and a half. I do have a cat, but I'm reasonably sure she's not a carrier of Covid. Worse yet, she's not a lap cat. Darn.

[PortTack]

9. After spending 31 hrs on Amtrak in late 12/19 Chicago to Flagstaff I'm pretty sure I had covid

One of our cats became ill approx 7 days after me.

The vet thought our little guy’s illness very strange. Sneezing/cough, fever, respiratory wheezing. I think he was sicker than I was

[littlemissmartypants]

10. Awe. So sorry to hear about that. I hope you both are doing well now.

❤

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Oh, dear.

I am a huge fan of Amtrak,m and I do hope your experience doesn't turn you off from Amtrak.

Even without this pandemic, your experience is not fun, to say the least. Hope you recover.

[Ocelot II]

14. Big cats, too.

Lions and tigers at the Bronx Zoo and a couple of snow leopards in Cincinnati. They are fine now.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

17. I shouldn't share this article with my sister.

One of her in-laws has a small dog that she has thrust inches away from my sister's face during visits.

The article mentioned no evidence yet of animal-to-human transmission, but it might spur an assault by my sister since those thoughts have already crossed her mind in regard to her in-law. All pre-pandemic, as far as I know.