Treat animals outside your home, especially strays, as though they may be infected, research indicates.
Yes, even the neighborhood cat may now have it. The current coronavirus causing the global pandemic is thought to have come to us from the animal kingdom. It likely came from infected bats. A new study out of China is indicating it can potentially also travel from humans back to animals.
Researchers from Huazhong Agricultural University in China analyzed cats from Wuhan, the site of the first known COVID-19 outbreak. Scientists looked at 102 cats including shelter cats, cats in animal hospitals, and those that lived with patients who had suffered from COVID-19. Blood samples were taken from the felines between January and March 2020, as well as nasal and anal swabs. Results showed the novel coronavirus had been present in 15 of the animals studied.
Interestingly, none of the cats actually tested positive for COVID-19. They didn’t show any viral symptoms, either. The cats were also tracked over time and so far, none of them has died.
Of the 15 cats who had COVID-19 antibodies in their blood, 11 also had neutralizing antibodies. These are proteins that bind very successfully to the virus. They do such a good job, they successfully block the animal or person from developing an infection.
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Which cats had the heaviest viral load? The three cats with the highest levels of antibodies in their system were owned by people who had contracted the virus themselves. Researchers guessed some of the cats also got the virus from other cats, and some could have gotten sick from patients who were feeding strays. Researchers are now advising people to not only stay away from humans who have contracted the virus, but also from their pets. In essence, the pets of patients as well as strays should now be considered “high-risk animals” the study’s authors said.
Of course, this is nothing new. Coronaviruses have traveled from animals to humans before the current pandemic. Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is thought to have come from camels in the Arabian Peninsula. MERS has been found in camels in many countries, and studies have shown that people who have contact with camels have a higher risk of falling sick with MERS. SARS, which caused an epidemic in 2002, was also caused by a coronavirus. This one was also thought to have originated in China, and to have potentially come from bats.
The cats examined in this study were found to have the same type of reaction to the novel coronavirus as they typically do to other seasonal coronaviruses. This means that cats can likely be infected with COVID-19 more than once, but it isn’t certain at what interval.
When interacting with animals during the pandemic it could be wise to take the same precautions as you would when dealing with a human. Stay socially distanced, wear a mask, and wash your hands.
photo credit: PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock.com
