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Dogs and cats can contract Covid-19 from their owners, vets warn

Dogs and cats can contract Covid-19 from their owners - and even display respiratory symptoms, according to a new study.

Pet owners who come down with symptoms are being warned to stay away from their animals for fear they might also become infected.

Veterinary science experts have said while there is no conclusive evidence that a pet could give Covid-19 to its owner, the virus does not change between species so it is certainly possible.

The researchers began studying when several pets were reported to have respiratory symptoms at the time when their owner was suffering from coronavirus.

Dorothee Bienzle, Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Guelph in Canada, said: "These preliminary results suggest that a substantial proportion of pets in households of persons with COVID-19 become infected."

In the study, people who owned a cat, dog, and in one case a ferret and had a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 were invited to have their pet swabbed.

If humans were outside the two-week window of suspected infectiousness, antibody testing was offered which looked for recent (IgM antibodies) or past infection (IgG antibodies).

Out of the 17 cats, 18 dogs and one ferret, all cats were tested and none of them bar one cat were currently infectious, but some showed signs of having been infected.

Ferrets, and other mustelid species such as mink, are highly susceptible to infection, according to the study.

Prof Bienzle said: "All cats with an indeterminate PCR or positive antibody results were reported to have had respiratory and/or other illness by their owners around the time of the owner's COVID-19 infection.

"Two (20%) of dogs had positive IgG antibody results, indicating past infection, and one of these was reported to have had an episode of respiratory disease.

She added: "While eligible participant number was limited by relatively low human transmission rates in the study area, these preliminary results suggest that a substantial proportion of pets in households of persons with COVID-19 end up developing antibodies.

"Due to the narrow window of time available to detect a current infection in pets, especially if their owner is still sick and isolating, blood testing the animal at a later time to check for previous infection is preferable for assessment of human-to-animal transmission."

She concluded: "Transmission from mink to humans has been reported on mink farms with a high proportion of infected animals maintained in close quarters and cared for by humans.

"Transmission from pets to humans has not been reported, but since the virus changes minimally or not at all after transmission from humans to animals, such reverse transmission may occur."

Prof Bienzle has encouraged people with coronavirus to stay away from people, and their pets.

She added: "There is sufficient evidence from multiple studies, including ours, to recommend that SARS-CoV-2 infected persons should isolate from people and animals."

The findings were unveiled at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference on Coronavirus Disease.

"No dogs had positive IgM results, which would have indicated more recent infection."

Reference: Shivali Best 19 hrs ago: 17/09/2020