An initial study suggests that felines can contract the brand-new coronavirus, yet this taken place in a synthetic context where researchers offered the felines high doses of SARS-CoV-2. The research study did not show convincingly that felines were able to send the infection even more, in between themselves or to people.
One key question that scientists have not had the ability to address satisfactorily throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is: Can domestic animals contract SARS-CoV-2, the infection that can cause this disease?
Moreover, if the response is “yes,” which domestic animals are at threat, and are they able to shed the infection even more, transferring it to other animals and people?
One report from Hong Kong suggested that an animal Pomeranian checked “weak positive” for infection with SARS-CoV-2. The outcomes suggested that this was a case of human-to-animal transmission, and the professionals who tested it kept the animal in quarantine for a couple of days, even though it did not show any signs.
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In the meantime, the pet dog– which was 17 years old– has died, however, whether the infection was in any way responsible for its death remains unsure
Ever Since, another dog in Hong Kong— this time, a German Shepherd– checked favorable for infection with the virus, though once more, the dog does disappoint any signs.
And most recently, a cat in Belgium that showed respiratory and digestive symptoms likewise evaluated positive for a coronavirus infection. In this case, nevertheless, some researchers have raised doubts about whether this was a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and whether the feline’s symptoms were associated with the infection.
Because of the high volume of inconsistent information around the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in domestic animals, researchers from China decided to take further actions to check out the matter.
The researchers hail from the Harbin Veterinary Research Study Institute at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the National High Containment Laboratory for Animal Diseases Control and Prevention, both in Harbin, China.
While their study has not yet undergone peer review, and they have not released it in any scientific journal, the authors are making their findings available online in preprint kind.
In their research study, they took a look at whether the new coronavirus might contaminate a variety of domestic or buddy animals, consisting of felines, canines, ferrets, chickens, ducks, and pigs.
Their most prominent finding was that felines and ferrets appear to be the most prone to infection with SARS-CoV-2, while in pet dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, the virus “reproduces poorly,” according to the research study authors.
Yet, it is unclear how likely cats and ferrets are to contract the virus, offered the completely artificial method of infection that the researchers used.
The researchers inoculated 5 8-month-old domestic felines with a high dose of the infection, which they delivered directly to the felines’ noses.
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