Can I get COVID-19 from my pet?
There's still a lot we don't know about transmission of SARS-CoV-2, but the most important point to reiterate: There is a lack of evidence the coronavirus is spread by pets and companion animals to humans.
"There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that companion animals play any role in the epidemiology of this disease," said Trevor Drew, director of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory. Drew and his colleagues at the AAHL are testing vaccines in ferrets in pre-clinical trials to assess safety and efficacy of new treatments. Ferrets are used in the trial because they are particularly susceptible to infection by the coronavirus. However, even ferret owners are unlikely to get the disease from their furry friends according to Drew.
He notes that the researchers at the AAHL are not seeing "overt clinical disease" in their ferrets, but "they do seem to have a slight temperature and they do replicate the virus." It may be that SARS-CoV-2 can infect these animals, but cannot replicate enough to cause the set of symptoms which define human COVID-19.
You may also be wondering if you can pick it up from your pet's fur? The risk is low -- but not zero -- because the coronavirus can survive on surfaces and is able to be transmitted via droplets. Theoretically, it might persist on fur, so you should always wash your hands before and after you interact with them if you're feeling unwell.
"People appear to pose more risk to their pets than they do to us," said Glenn Browning, a veterinary microbiologist at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
It's very scary. Another thing to add, just like global warming, if everyone in the world does not work together, and very soon, COVID-19 will be a plague that will haunt us for a very, very long time.
ReplyDeleteIf I’m not mistaken, then during a pandemic, epidemiologists around the world studied all the ways of transmitting the virus and came to the conclusion that a person cannot be infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus from a pet
ReplyDeleteThe information is undoubtedly interesting, but you did not give a full explanation. For example, I have a very active breed of dog https://petonbed.com/whippet/ and sometimes I don’t know what to do. I need to walk with him as often as possible, but on a walk my dog constantly tries to break out of the leash. Although I recently learned that dogs suffer from a coronavirus, it’s another species that is not transmitted to humans. Moreover, cats also get sick, but the feline coronavirus is not transmitted to dogs or humans, the canine to humans and cats, and the pet cannot be infected with the human coronavirus. A dog can theoretically become a carrier only if a sick person sneezes at it, and the owner strokes it immediately, and then touches its face. Therefore, for safety, it’s enough to follow simple safety rules - wash the animal’s paws after a walk, after that - wash your hands with soap and water. And while walking, stay away from strangers, do not let them pet your dog, communicate with her.
ReplyDeleteDutch government worries infected mink could become a viral reservoir that could cause new outbreaks in humans.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/coronavirus-rips-through-dutch-mink-farms-triggering-culls-prevent-human-infections
COPENHAGEN, July 1, 2020 (Xinhua) -- A third mink herd has been found to be infected with COVID-19, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) said in a press release on Wednesday.
The animals came under scrutiny after people connected to the mink farm, in Hjorring municipality of North Jutland, 356 km northwest of Copenhagen, reported to DVFA that they had become infected with COVID-19.
Following a massive round of testing of the animals on Monday, more than half of the 10,000-strong mink herd were discovered to be infected with the virus.
"It is against this background that the government has decided that this third infected herd must also be killed on the basis of a precautionary principle," said the press release.
In recent weeks, two other mink farms in the same area have seen 11,000 mink killed because of the infection, and a dog of a mink farm owner tested positive and became the first pet in Denmark infected with the coronavirus.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-07/02/c_139181462.htm
Very few dogs had Covid-19, but some dogs did have it.
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