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Companion cats and dogs are much more likely to contract Covid-19 than their stray peers – and cats are more susceptible to the virus than their canine counterparts, new research suggests.
In the new study, researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario tested 48 cats and 54 dogs from 77 different households that had a positive Covid-19 case in the previous nine months. They compared the results to those of 75 dogs and cats living in an animal shelter and 75 stray cats that had been seen at a low-cost veterinary clinic. The preliminary results, which have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in July.
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Almost 70 percent of companion cats and more than 40 percent of companion dogs have tested positive for antibodies, compared with just under 10 percent of dogs and cats at the animal shelter. That number fell to 3% for stray cats. The majority of cases were mild and only 20 percent of dogs and 30 percent of cats exhibited symptoms. Dogs mostly had loss of appetite and sluggishness, while cats had runny noses and had difficulty breathing.
Researchers also found that the time a pet owner spent with their dog had no effect on the animal’s chances of contracting Covid-19, but cats did not. . The more time cats spent with their human companions, the more likely they were to become infected. In particular, cats that slept in their owner’s bed had a higher risk of infection.
It is still not clear precisely why cats are more likely to contract Covid-19 than dogs, but some research has suggested that felines have a greater capacity for the virus to grow in their cells than dogs or even laboratory mice. , which makes them more sensitive.
“It could be something as simple as most dogs have long noses, or that the virus doesn’t bind as well to the receptor in dogs’ cells, or something with the immune system,” Sue said. VandeWoude, Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado. University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which was not involved in the new research.
Since the most likely route of infection is human to animal, and not the other way around, pet owners should not be concerned about contracting Covid-19 from their pets, said Dorothee Bienzle, professor of veterinary pathology at the University of Guelph and co. -author of the study.
Indeed, a second study, also presented at the scientific meeting in July, concluded that humans probably infect their pets. This study, conducted by researchers at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, examined 311 cats and dogs in 196 households with one person who is HIV-positive for Covid-19. Just under one in five animals tested positive for antibodies, and a small handful – six cats and seven dogs – tested positive for PCR, meaning they had an active infection.
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People with Covid-19 should take steps to protect their pets, Bienzle said. This means wearing a mask and avoiding contact with their cats and dogs as much as possible.
“At this point we have to assume that if we are infected our pets are also susceptible and they should be treated like any other member of the household,” she said.
According to VandeWoude, two questions remain: Can pets infect people who have not yet been infected, and if they do, will the virus mutate, as it did. last year on a mink farm in Denmark.
Mutations are more likely to occur when a virus spreads rapidly between many hosts, such as in populations of farmed or wild animals or humans living in densely populated cities. Transfers between a pet and a human, on the other hand, are of less concern.
“Yet whenever there is an overflow event, from animals to humans, there is always a risk that it will become more virulent, so this is something we have to keep in mind,” he said. declared VandeWoude.
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