RESEARCH: It is common for dogs and cats to get stuck Covid-19 by their owners

The infection Covid-19 is common in dogs and pets, when they live in houses where their owners have coronavirus, according to a new Dutch scientific study. Cases of human pet infection have been reported in the past but were considered rare, but new research shows that they are eventually more common than originally thought, about one in five pets living in homes where there is a person with Covid-19.

The researchers, led by Dr. Els-Browns of the University of Utrecht, who made the announcement at the European Conference on Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), used a mobile veterinary clinic to study households where tests to take blood samples from dogs and cats living in the same house.

A total of 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households were studied. Six cats and seven dogs were found to be coronavirus positive (4,2%), while another 31 cats and 23 dogs (17,4%) were found to have anti-coronavirus antibodies, an indication of an earlier infection. As a result, at least one-fifth of the pets were infected. Eventually all 13 animals with active infection recovered.

The study found no transmission of the virus among animals living in the same house. The researchers reported that the most likely route of transmission is from people with Covid-19 to their animals and not the other way around. "If you have Covid-19 "You should avoid contact with your cat or dog, as you would with humans," said Dr. Broens.

"The main concern is not the health of animals, which have only mild or no symptoms. Covid-19, but the potential danger of animals acting as a "reservoir" of the coronavirus and reintroducing it into the human population. Fortunately, no cases of transmission of the virus from pets to humans have been reported to date. Thus, although it is common for pets to become infected when they live in a house with Covid-19, it seems unlikely that they themselves play a role in the pandemic. We can not, however, say that there is a 0% risk of someone getting stuck Covid-19 from his pet ", he added.

A second Canadian study presented at the same conference by researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, led by Dorothy Bidzle, a professor of veterinary pathology, found that cats sleeping in their owner's bed had an increased risk of infection. Covid-19.

The study was performed on 48 cats and 54 dogs in 77 households, where a human was positive for the coronavirus. It was found that 67% of cats and 43% of dogs were found to have antibodies to the coronavirus, compared with only 9% of the animals living in the shelter and 3% of the strays.

A quarter of the animals with Covid-19 they had some symptoms, such as lack of appetite or shortness of breath. Most cases of infection in animals were mild, while three were severe. "If anyone has Covid-19, there is an unexpected high probability of transmitting it to his animal, especially to a cat sleeping with him. So, if you have Covid-19"It is better to stay away and not put the cat in your bedroom", stressed Dr. Bincle.

New study confirms that cats are more vulnerable than dogs to the coronavirus. Cats are also more likely to sleep close to the face of their coronavirus-infected boss, which increases their risk of infection.