Covid is back! For cats?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
The claim that COVID-19 came from bats being researched in Wuhan, China is controversial. But the question of whether animals can be infected persists.
The Harbin Veterinary Research Institute investigated SARS-CoV-2 infections. After looking into known strains of coronavirus in common domestic animals, researchers discovered astonishing results!
A few days after exposure, they tested for signs of covid. Ferrets and cats showed the virus in their nose and tonsils. This suggests they’re susceptible to the ‘rona. But dogs stayed healthy!
Thankfully, sick animals showed mild or no symptoms and recovered quickly.
So once again, problems that drive humans up the wall… cats just sleep ‘em off.
Reference: Shi, J., Wen, Z., Zhong, G., Yang, H., Wang, C., Huang, B., Liu, R., He, X., Shuai, L., Sun, Z., Zhao, Y., Liu, P., Liang, L., Cui, P., Wang, J., Zhang, X., Guan, Y., Tan, W., Wu, G., … Bu, Z. (2020). Susceptibility of ferrets, cats, dogs, and other domesticated animals to SARS-coronavirus 2. Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 368(6494), 1016–1020. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb7015