Pets and covid 19

A small study that repeatedly tested the pets of people with COVID-19 suggests that 31% of
dogs and 40% of cats acquired a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Neutered pets or those that shared a bed with a human with the infection were more likely to
contract the infection.
The study reinforces the message that people with COVID-19 should avoid close contact with
their pets if possible.
There remains no evidence that pets with the infection can pass it on to people or other
animals.
Researchers in Brazil have discovered a higher than expected incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection
among the cats and dogs of people with COVID-19.
However, there remains no evidence that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can
transmit from pets to people.
Between May and October 2020, scientists at the Evandro Chagas National Institute of
Infectious Diseases, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, in Rio de Janeiro, recruited 21 patients with
confirmed COVID-19 who shared their household with a pet cat or dog.
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These patients were male or female aged 18 years and older, with COVID-19.
There were 29 dogs and 10 cats in total. The scientists took nasal, throat, and rectal swabs from
the animals during an initial home visit and two further visits around 15 and 30 days later.
They also collected blood samples to test for the presence of antibodies capable of neutralizing
the virus.
Pets in 10 of the households (around 50%) tested positive for the virus. In total, there were nine
dogs (31% of all the dogs) and four cats (40% of all the cats) that contracted the infection.
The animals tested positive between 11 and 51 days after the onset of symptoms in their
respective human owner or carer.
The researchers detected neutralizing antibodies in the blood of one dog and two cats.
Out of the 13 animals that tested positive, six showed mild, temporary symptoms, while the
remainder showed no symptoms.
The study results appear in the journal PLOS ONETrusted Source.
“There is now an increasing number of studies of pets around the world being published that
suggest that asymptomatic infection of pets, some rather larger than this small case series, is
quite common,” said Professor James Wood, Ph.D., B.Vet.Med, head of the Department of
Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom