Can pets get COVID-19? Are you worried that your beloved furry friend will get sick? Put your fears to rest by getting the facts on pets and COVID-19.
You can get those facts by reading this article.
Can Pets Get COVID-19?
Coronavirus is not new. In case you don’t know, that term doesn’t actually refer to just one type of virus. It’s a whole family of different viruses, and COVID-19 is only one of them.
Your pet could get or already have one of those viruses. Dogs can get canine coronavirus (CCOV) while cats can get feline coronavirus (FCoV).
But based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s highly unlikely for your pet to become infected with COVID-19.
Sure, there have been some animals that tested positive for the disease. Yet that number is very small. And many of those animals don’t even appear to be ill.
For example, two dogs from Hong Kong tested positive but didn’t have any symptoms. And two cats in New York also tested positive. Although both cats had mild symptoms, they didn’t suffer from anything severe.
Hong Kong’s health officials tested more dogs and cats that have been in contact with humans infected with COVID-19. Very few of those animals tested positive, indicating that most pets aren’t going to get this disease.
The health officials claimed, “these findings indicate that dogs and cats are not infected easily with this virus, and there is no evidence that they play a role in the spread of the virus.”
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, “fewer than 20 pets have tested positive” during, “the first twelve weeks following the March 11 declaration by the WHO of a global pandemic.”
So, to answer your question (can pets get COVID-19?), most pets will not get this virus. That should be a huge relief if you’ve been worried about your furball.
Can Animals Spread COVID-19?
Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) claim that animals are not likely to spread COVID-19 to humans.
According to the WHO, “There is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit COVID-19. COVID-19 is mainly spread through droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.”
And because it’s very unlikely for animals to get COVID-19, that means your pet probably can’t become infected by someone who has the disease.
There have been a few instances where animals became infected while in contact with people who had COVID-19. This was seen at a New York zoo, where an employee who had the virus worked.
A few of the lions and tigers at that zoo tested positive for COVID-19, leading public health officials to conclude that the animals were infected by the employee.
But those types of cases are few and far between. In most situations, animals have not gotten sick from people, and vice versa.
Hopefully, this article has helped to clear up some confusion about pets and COVID-19. During these difficult times, it’s important to stay knowledgeable about the truth.