The researchers take coronavirus from human patients and infect cats with coronavirus. Each cat is placed in a cage with a different cat that has tested negative for coronavirus. The coronavirus was found in all newly exposed cats within five days. None of the cats ever showed any coronavirus symptoms.
"There was no sneeze, no cough, they never got high body temperature or lost weight," said Halfmann. "If a pet owner had looked at you ... he wouldn't have noticed anything."
The scientists who led the investigation say it shows the need for more research into whether the coronavirus can spread from humans to cats and back to humans.
Health experts have downplayed this possibility.
The American Veterinary Medical Association said in a statement that just because a cat can be intentionally infected in a laboratory, "does not mean it can easily become infected with the same virus in natural conditions". Anyone who is concerned about this risk should exercise “common sense when it comes to hygiene,” says virus expert Peter Halfmann. Avoid kissing your pets and keeping surfaces clean to reduce the chances of ingesting viruses that an animal could shed, he said.
The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine led the laboratory experiment and published the results in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. The work was funded by federal grants.
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In a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists from the United States and Japan report that cats in the laboratory easily become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and may pass the virus on to other cats can.
Yoshihiro Kawaoka, professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, led the study in which researchers administered SARS-CoV-2 isolated from a human patient to three cats.
The next day, the researchers took swabs from the cats' nasal passages and were able to detect the virus in two of the animals. They detected the virus in all cats within three days.
The day after the researchers administered the virus to the first three cats, they put another cat in each of their cages. The researchers did not give these cats the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Each day, the researchers took nasal and rectal swabs from all six cats to check for the presence of the virus. Within two days, one of the previously uninfected cats will shed the virus that was found in the nasal swab, and within six days all cats should shed the virus. None of the rectal swabs contained viruses.
Yoshihiro Kawaoka
Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC
Every cat sheds SARS-CoV-2 from their nasal passages for up to six days. The virus was not fatal and none of the cats showed any signs of illness. All cats eventually shed the virus.
"That was an important finding for us - the cats had no symptoms," says Kawaoka, who also teaches at the University of Tokyo. Kawaoka is also involved in the development of a human COVID-19 vaccine called CoroFlu.
The results suggest that cats may be able to contract the virus if exposed to humans or other cats that are positive to SARS-CoV-2. It follows a study by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences published in Science, which also showed that cats (and ferrets) can become infected with the virus and potentially transmit it. It is known that the virus is transmitted in humans through contact with drops of breath and saliva.
"This is something people should keep in mind," says Peter Halfmann, a research professor at UW-Madison who co-directed the study. "If you are quarantined in your home and worried about passing COVID-19 to children and spouses, you should also worry about passing it on to your animals."
The two researchers advise that people with symptoms of COVID-19 avoid contact with cats. They also advise cat owners to keep their pets indoors to limit their cats' contact with other people and animals.
Kawaoka is concerned about animal welfare. The World Organization for Animal Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that "there is no justification for taking action against companion animals that could affect their welfare."
Humans remain at greatest risk in transmitting the virus to other people. There is no evidence that cats easily transmit the virus to humans, nor are there documented cases of people contracting COVID-19 from contact with cats.
However, there are confirmed cases where cats have become infected from close contact with people infected with the virus, and several big cats at the Bronx Zoo have also tested positive for the virus.
For example, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two cats in two private households in New York state tested positive for COVID-19. One of them had been in a house with a person with a confirmed case of the viral disease. The cats showed slight signs of respiratory disease and are expected to make a full recovery.
More cats also tested positive for COVID-19 after being in close contact with their human companions, says Sandra Newbury, director of the UW-Madison Shelter Medicine Program. Newbury is leading a research study in several states to test shelter cats that may have previously been exposed to human COVID-19 cases.
"Animal rights organizations are working very hard in this crisis to maintain the human-animal bond and keep pets with their humans," says Newbury. "It is a stressful time for everyone, and now, more than ever, people need the comfort and support that pets provide."
"It's something people should keep in mind," says Peter Halfmann, who co-directed the study. "If you are quarantined in your home and worried about passing COVID-19 to children and spouses, you should also worry about passing it on to your animals."
Newbury worked with the CDC and the American Veterinary Medical Association to develop recommendations for animal shelters that house potentially exposed pets, what to do while owners are in hospital or otherwise unable to care for their illness to take care of them.
The UW-Madison study is helping to confirm experimentally that cats can become infected, although the risk of natural infection from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 appears to be pretty low, Newbury says. Of the 22 animals tested as part of the program, none had a positive polymerase chain reaction test for the virus, she adds.
"You are still much more likely than cats to get COVID-19 from you than you will get it from a cat," says Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who recommends that pet owners talk to their vets first. whether they should have their animals tested. The tests should target populations of cats and other species that have been found to be susceptible to the virus and virus transmission.
With regard to pets, “we are targeting companion animals in community shelters with high-risk populations, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities,” says Poulsen. "There is a delicate balance between the need for more information through testing and the limited resources and clinical impact of positive tests."
So what should pet owners do?
Ruthanne Chun, Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs at UW Veterinary Care, offers the following advice:
- If your pet lives in the house with you and is not in contact with a COVID-19 positive person, it is safe to pet, cuddle, and interact with your pet.
- If you are COVID-19 positive, you should restrict your pets around them to protect them from contracting the virus.
- Additional advice on handling pets in households where people are infected with COVID-19 is available from the American Veterinary Medical Association and the CDC, including in this FAQ from AVMA.
"As always, pet owners should include their pets and other animals in their contingency planning, including maintaining a two-week supply of food and medicine," she says. "Preparations should also be made for the care of the animals in case they need to be quarantined or hospitalized because of an illness."
THE STUDY WAS SUPPORTED BY THE US NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND THE JAPANESE AGENCY FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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