The current pandemic situation caused by a new animal virus has raised a multitude of doubts among all the people who enjoy the company of a cat at home, questions that have multiplied in recent days, due to the news showing the contagion of a domestic cat and felines.housed in zoos.
Also based on the scientific evidence available so far, in this peritoAnimal article, we will explain whether cats may have a coronavirus or not, and whether they can pass it on to humans.
- Before determining whether cats can have a coronavirus.
- Let’s briefly look at some basic concepts about this new virus.
- Namely SARS-CoV-2 and the virus causes a disease called COVID-19.
- It is a virus belonging to a well-family known of these pathogens.
- Coronavirus.
- Capable of affecting various species.
- Such as pigs.
- Cats.
- Dogs and also humans.
This new virus is similar to that found in bats and is believed to have affected humans through one or more intermediate animals. The first case was diagnosed in China in December 2019.Since then, the virus has spread rapidly among people around the world, presenting themselves asymptomatically, causing mild respiratory symptoms or, in a smaller percentage of cases, serious respiratory problems that some patients fail to overcome.There is currently no specific drug or vaccine against the virus.
As we have explained, the new COVID-19 disease can be considered a zoonotic disease, which means that it has been transmitted from the animal to the human being, in this sense doubts may arise about which animals can infect us with this coronavirus or which.other species may be infected.
In this context, the role of cats has become more important in recent days and it has been questioned whether cats may be carriers of coronavirus, because reports appear to report the discovery of sick cats.that of a cat in Belgium, which not only tested positive for the new coronavirus in its stool, but also suffered from respiratory and digestive symptoms.In addition, other cats, tigers and lions, apparently positive, have been reported at a New York zoo.but only one tiger has been tested, in this case, some of them showed respiratory signs of the disease.
However, the truth is that in the case of the Belgian cat, which has already been recovered, it has not been determined that its symptoms were by coronavirus and, in both cases, the virus came from the animal-guard humans.millions of people worldwide who are potentially positive to coronavirus living in contact with cats, and the minimum number of cases reported to date in this species, it can be said that the presence of COVID-19 in them is anecdotal.
Although the new coronavirus has recently been identified, numerous scientific studies have been conducted to expand knowledge about it, among them, we seek to answer the question of whether cats can have a coronavirus, being an animal accustomed to living in close contact with people, It understands the relevance of determining this topic.
In this sense, several studies stand out. Recently the first, shi et al. was published, which concluded that cats can contract the virus, which can replicate in their body, causing mild respiratory symptoms, in addition to these cats can infect other healthy counterparts.In the same study, ferrets are in the same situation, while in dogs the sensitivity is much more limited and other animals, such as pigs, chickens and ducks, are not at all sensitive.
However, while headlines may alarm you, the truth is that the study should be examined in detail, participating cats were exposed to very high doses of the virus, which could not occur in a natural environment, however, sensitivity was very low., as well as the ability to transmit the virus, which was considered very limited.
Other studies in the same year have reached similar conclusions, so from the serological analysis of 102 cats by Zhang et al, it appears that only 15 were positive, but only three had an immune reaction.
Other unpublished studies in China have found the new coronavirus in cats, dogs, ferrets, foxes and raccoons with unexplained respiratory symptoms or deaths.All of these animals, more than 800 in total, were tested for the virus.They all turned out negative.
For all these reasons, organizations involved in human public health and veterinary health conclude that, according to data collected to date, cats have no relevance to COVID-19.Currently, there is no evidence that pets transmit the disease and Animal transmission would occur only in exceptional situations, however, people with coronavirus are advised to leave their cat in the care of family and friends or, if this is not possible, to follow recommended hygiene guidelines.
It is true that cats may have a coronavirus, but of other types, so it is possible to hear about these viruses in the veterinary context, do not refer to SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 for decades it is known that a type of coronavirus, which is very common in cats, causes symptoms at the digestive level, and is generally not serious; However, in some individuals, this virus mutates and is capable of triggering a very serious and fatal disease known as PIF, or feline infectious peritonitis.In all cases, none of these feline coronaviruses are related to COVID-19.
This article is merely informative, at Animal Expert.com.br we cannot prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis, we suggest taking your pet to the vet in case of any type of condition or discomfort.
If you would like to read similar articles about coronavirus and cats: what we know about COVID-19, we recommend that you visit our Viral Diseases section.