Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : November 20, 2020 9:40 AM IST
Domestic cats may not have obvious clinical signs of SARS-CoV-2, but they still shed the virus through their nasal, oral and rectal cavities and can spread it efficiently to other cats within two days. @Shutterstock
There is a general consensus among the scientific community that COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease. In other words, they suspect that the virus that causes the infection may have jumped from an animal to humans and think that, in this case, the culprits are bats. But, at the same time, most experts think that the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is quite low. Now, two recently published studies from Kansas State University researchers and collaborators have led to two important findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic: Domestic cats can be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, but pigs are unlikely to be significant carriers of the virus. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.
Researchers say that other research has shown that COVID-19-infected human patients are transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to cats. This includes domestic cats and even large cats, such as lions and tigers. The findings of this study are important because of the close association between humans and companion animals. There are about 95 million house cats in the U.S. and about 60 million to 100 million feral cats.
Through their in-depth study at the K-State Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, at Pat Roberts Hall, the researchers studied susceptibility to infection, disease and transmission in domestic cats. They found that domestic cats may not have obvious clinical signs of SARS-CoV-2, but they still shed the virus through their nasal, oral and rectal cavities and can spread it efficiently to other cats within two days. Further research is needed to study whether domestic cats can spread the virus to other animals and humans. This efficient transmission between domestic cats indicates a significant animal and public health need to investigate a potential human-cat-human transmission chain, said researchers.
For the study involving pigs, the researchers found that SARS-CoV-2-infected pigs are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and do not appear to transmit the virus to contact animals. Pigs play an important role in U.S. agriculture, which made it important to determine the potential SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility in pigs. The results of this study show that pigs are unlikely to be significant carriers of SARS-CoV-2.
Another recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports says that about 26 animals that come in regular contact with people may be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This research, carried out in the University College London, found that most birds, fish, and reptiles do not appear to be at risk of infection. But the majority of the mammals they reviewed can be infected. Researchers of this study predict possible infection in many animals, including domestic cats, dogs, mink, lions, and tigers. COVID positive cases have been reported in these animals. Ferrets and macaques have also been infected in laboratory studies. But the likelihood of these animals infecting humans is not known for certain and scientists agree that further tests are needed on this.
(With inputs from Agencies)
