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As the virus that causes COVID-19 has spread across the world and caused unimaginable damage, one group has been largely spared – our beloved pet cats and dogs.
But an alarming new preliminary study has suggested that may no longer be the case; he found that a small number of animals that developed heart problems were also infected with the B117 SARS-CoV-2 variant that emerged in the UK.
First, this preprinted study – which has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal – only shows the possibility of a link between these animals’ heart problems and the virus from a small sample. , so don’t despair of your four-legged friend’s chances. again.
It does, however, warn vets to watch out for the virus in animals with these symptoms and provides another remarkably complex piece of the puzzle that is our understanding of COVID-19.
The study was carried out by several vets who focus on heart problems; At the end of last year, they saw a significant increase in cases of a type of heart inflammation called myocarditis in cats and dogs.
“We are reporting a sudden increase in the number of domestic dogs and cats with myocarditis at the Cardiology Department at the Ralph Veterinary Referral Center (RVRC), based in the suburbs of London (UK), between December 2020 and February 2021, with an unexpected increase in incidence from 1.4 to 12.8 percent, ”the team wrote in their preprint, available on bioRxiv.
This sudden increase in cases appeared to mimic the curve and timing of the human COVID-19 pandemic in the UK due to the B117 variant, starting in mid-December 2020, peaking in late January 2021, before returning at the historic rate by mid-February 2021. “
Although we have only confirmed a limited number of cases of COVID-19 in pets so far, none of the animals showed classic symptoms of COVID-19 such as digestive or mild respiratory problems.
But the increase in myocarditis cases is an interesting coincidence to say the least – the flare was only 18 animals in total, but it was 10 times higher than a normal period. All but one of the animals survived the ordeal.
The team also found that most of the owners and handlers of these sick animals showed symptoms of COVID-19 3 to 6 weeks before their animals became ill, and some have tested positive for the disease.
“Given this coincidence and the intriguing simultaneous development of myocarditis in these animals and the B117 COVID-19 outbreak in [the] In the UK, we decided to investigate SARS-CoV-2 infection in these animals, ”the team added.
Researchers took blood samples, rectal and nasal swabs from six cats and one dog, as well as blood samples from two other cats and two dogs – testing the blood for antibodies to the coronavirus and swabs for lumps of the virus itself.
Five of the animals had been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case, while the rest were unknown.
All nasal swabs were negative, but low levels of the virus were found in two cats and one dog, while three other animals came back with a positive result for antibodies.
“More interestingly, considering only the five animals whose owners or handlers were laboratory confirmed COVID-19 positive, four were shown positive for SARS-CoV-2,” the team writes.
Now, as we previously reported, this is a very small study, the article has yet to be peer reviewed, and even researchers urge caution.
“We’re a bit biased because we only see heart patients, and we only see the most critical,” said lead author, RVRC cardiologist Luca Ferasin. The Guardian.
“We don’t want to panic unnecessarily, especially because at the moment we have a strong suspicion of human-to-animal transmission, but not the other way around – and we don’t know for sure. they can start testing if they suspect a potential case of COVID infection. “
Although we have seen epidemics in other animals, such as the millions of minks on fur farms in the United States and Europe and an eclectic mix of zoo animals, there have been quite a few recorded cases of COVID-19 in pets.
Researchers believe this is the first report of an infection in cats or dogs with the British variant of the virus, which is an important finding in itself. If the variant causes heart problems in cats and dogs, we will need more information.
“There is an urgent need to accelerate and significantly strengthen the investigation and surveillance of animal infections with highly transmissible variants such as the British B117, South African B1.351 and Brazilian P.1 variants as part of the global response. to the -species COVID-19 pandemic ”, the researchers conclude.
The pre-print paper is available for reading on bioRxiv.
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