Can Pets Get Covid 19 Virus
You may have heard that coronaviruses can infect animals and wondered whether your pets could get covid 19 or pass the virus to you.
Can pets get covid 19 virus. Two cats from new york are the first pets to test positive for sars cov 2 the novel coronavirus that causes covid 19 eight tigers and lions have also tested positive for sars cov 2 at the bronx. Cats and ferrets by contrast are permissive to infection here s the breakdown of which animals are at. There has been no evidence showing pets can transmit the virus back to other. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses.
A small number of pets worldwide including cats and dogs have been reported to be infected with the virus that causes covid 19 mostly after close contact with people with covid 19. The department said that to ensure public and animal health that mammalian pets of patients confirmed to have been infected with covid 19 virus to be put under quarantine by the afcd. There is no evidence that viruses can spread to people or other animals from a pet s skin fur or hair. Animals don t appear to play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes covid 19.
In hong kong health officials have tested 17 dogs and eight. At this time there is no evidence that companion animals including pets can spread covid 19 or that they might be a source of infection in europe or the united states however animals can. Based on the limited information available to date the risk of animals spreading covid 19 to people is considered to be low. For a a dog or cat to get covid 19 they have to come in contact with a human who has been infected with the virus.
There is still no evidence that pets can spread the virus that causes covid 19 to humans and the risk of human to animal transmission remains very small. Based on the limited available information the risk of animals spreading the covid 19 virus to people is considered low.