is your cat endangering you?

A veterinary study has just shown that the coronavirus contagion is even faster between cats than between humans. Fortunately for them, however, they seem to be more resistant to infection.

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While Covid-19 pandemic slows down only slightly, or even picks up in many countries for what could be a second wave, researchers have studied contamination between domestic cats. The results are worrying even if nothing has yet established a transmission from or to humans. Should you wear a mask in the presence of his cat?

Healthy carriers, cats could spread the Covid-19 epidemic

For this study, still unpublished, researchers put 6 chats less than 6 months in contact with the SARS-CoV-2 virus through the nose and mouth. Two healthy cats were later introduced to the group. All cats in the first group tested positive for the virus between 1 and 10 days after their exposure. More worrying, the other 2 cats only needed 2 days to contract the virus, showing rapid contagion between individuals.

While some controls are relatively harmless to animals, scientists have gone to euthanize some felines to further their analyzes. It turns out that although the RNA of the virus is present in the nose, mouth, throat and rectum of these animals, none showed any symptomss, even 21 days after exposure to the virus.

If this is good news, it still is too early to conclude that cats are immune to the coronavirus. In addition, the speed of contagion from one feline to another raises real questions about thehas the potential for domestic cats to become vectors for the spread of the disease as healthy carriers, while waiting a vaccine Bill Gates wants as cheap as possible. Other studies are needed to establish inter-species contamination with humans but also with other domestic and wild animals. We know for example that this coronavirus has been present in bats for decades.

Source : Gizmodo

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