Cat-to-human Covid link found in Thailand

Indo Thai News — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 09:06:07 +0000

A veterinarian in southern Thailand likely contracted the coronavirus from an infected pet cat last year, researchers concluded in a new study. It is the first documented case of suspected cat-to-human transmission, although experts stress that the risk of cats infecting humans with the virus remains low overall.

One of the cat’s two owners, who both had Covid-19, probably passed the virus to the cat, which then sneezed in the veterinarian’s face, according to a research paper written by scientists at Prince of Songkla University. Genomic sequencing confirmed that the cat and all three people were infected with an identical version of the virus, which was not widespread in the local population at the time.

Cats are far more likely to catch the virus from people than to transmit it to them, scientists say. But the case is a reminder that people who are infected with the virus should take precautions around their pets — and that veterinarians and shelter workers who may come into contact with infected animals should do the same, said Dr Scott Weese, an infectious diseases veterinarian at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

“When things become human diseases, we too often forget everything else,” he said. “I think it’s important for us to recognise this virus still can move between species.”

Previous research has shown that pet owners can infect their cats and that, in certain conditions, cats can transmit the virus to each other. But it has been difficult to prove that cat-to-human transmission happens in natural settings. (Mink, hamsters and deer have been reported to spread the virus to humans.)

The new paper appeared this week in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, which is published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It makes a strong case for cat-to-human transmission, Dr Weese said: “They’ve got a pretty good story here.”

On Aug 4 last year, a father and son in Bangkok developed symptoms of Covid-19 and subsequently tested positive for the virus. Because of a shortage of hospital beds in Bangkok, the two men were transported on Aug 8 to a hospital in Songkhla via a 20-hour ambulance ride. For reasons that are unclear, they brought their pet cat.

When the men were admitted to the hospital, the cat was sent to a veterinary hospital for an exam. Although the cat appeared to be healthy, the veterinarian, a 32-year-old woman, collected nasal and rectal swabs, which tested positive for the virus. While the veterinarian was swabbing the cat’s nose, the animal sneezed in her face. (The veterinarian was wearing gloves and a mask but no face shield or eye protection.)

On Aug 13, the veterinarian developed Covid symptoms, including a fever and a cough. Shortly thereafter, she tested positive for the virus.

Genomic sequencing revealed that the cat’s owners, the cat and the veterinarian were all infected with the same version of the delta variant, which was distinct from viral samples taken from other patients in Songkhla at the time.

PCR testing suggests that the cat had a high viral load at the time of its veterinary exam. None of the veterinarian’s close contacts are known to have had Covid-19 at the time, and she had no prior encounters with the pet’s owners, adding support to the theory that the cat was the source of the veterinarian’s infection. (It was not clear whether she met with the owners later.)

The CDC recommends that people who are infected with the virus avoid contact with their pets. “If you’re trying to stay away from people because you’re potentially infectious,” Dr Weese said, “just try to stay away from animals at the same time.”

Source: Bangkokpost

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Study: Common for Cats, Dogs To Catch Covid From Owners

Indo Thai News — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:11:52 +0000

Covid-19 is common in pet cats and dogs whose owners are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) virus, according to a study.

Hence why some zoo animals in India acquire Covid-19 due to the zoo keepers touching the animal’s food while being infected with the virus, more on those stories here: 8 lions corona infected in Hyderabad, Four Vandalur zoo lions infected with Delta variant of Covid-19

In the yet-to-be published study, researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands studied pet dogs and cats of people who had tested positive for Covid-19.

A mobile veterinary clinic in the Netherlands, visited the homes of owners to take oropharyngeal and rectal swabs, and blood samples from their cats and dogs.

The swabs were used in PCR tests, which provide evidence of current infection, and the blood samples were tested for antibodies, which provide evidence of past infection.

About 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households in the Netherlands were tested in total.

The researchers found that six cats and seven dogs (4.2 per cent) had positive PCR tests and 31 cats and 23 dogs (17.4 per cent) tested positive for antibodies.

“If you have Covid-19, you should avoid contact with your cat or dog, just as you would do with other people,” said Els Broens, from Utrecht University.

“The main concern, however, is not the animals’ health — they had no or mild symptoms of Covid-19 but the potential risk that pets could act as a reservoir of the virus and reintroduce coronavirus it into the human population,” Broens said in a statement.

Eleven of the 13 owners whose pets had tested positive agreed for them to undergo a second round of testing one to three weeks after they were first tested for coronavirus.

All 11 animals tested positive for antibodies, confirming they had had Covid-19.

Three cats still had positive PCR tests and were tested for a third time.

All the coronavirus positive animals eventually cleared the infection and tested negative for the covid-19 virus.

Eight cats and dogs that lived in the same homes as the positive pets were also tested again at this second stage to check for virus transmission among pets.

The study found that none tested positive, suggesting the virus was not being passed between pets living in close contact with one another.

The research shows that COVID-19 is highly prevalent in pets of people who have had the disease, with pets in 40 out of 196 households (20.4 per cent) having antibodies for the virus.

The study was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases held online this year due to the pandemic.

The researchers said that with other studies showing Covid-19 rates to be higher in pets that have been in contact with infected people, than in pets without such contact, the most likely route of transmission is from human to pet, rather than the other way round.

“Fortunately, to date no pet-to-human transmission has been reported. So, despite the rather high prevalence among pets from Covid-19 positive households in this study, it seems unlikely that pets play a role in the pandemic,” Broens added.

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Cat-to-human Covid link found in Thailand

Study: Common for Cats, Dogs To Catch Covid From Owners