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Household animals are susceptible to coronavirus infection. How to protect your pets, said the professor and dean of the Faculty of Bioengineering and Veterinary Medicine at Don State Technical University Alexej Yermakov.
„A domestic animal can become infected with coronavirus, but not with all of its types. If we speak specifically about Covid-19, which started the current pandemic, then this virus is not dangerous for household pets,“ said the professor.
He also noted that for humans the „animal“ coronavirus is not dangerous. The virus types even belong to different subfamilies.
Currently a beta-coronavirus is circulating among humans and dog and cat viruses belong to the alpha subfamily of coronaviruses.
According to the professor, however, it is still necessary to take preventive measures. Attention should be paid to the recommendations of the World Veterinary Association. If a person has symptoms of illness, they must be isolated not only from people but also from domestic animals.
„This is due to the fact that the new coronavirus is still little researched. Vaccines exist for species that are known to science. Therefore it is very important to vaccinate domestic animals. Moreover, today all vaccines are multivalent, which means that they protect against several diseases at once,“ the professor said.
The expert noted that the type of coronavirus that is dangerous for dogs does not threaten cats and vice versa. For humans, animals are more dangerous as carriers of other known diseases, such as rabies. As part of prevention the professor also recommends avoiding contact between the domestic animal and people and with wild animals that are not vaccinated.
This is also related to not consuming meat from wild animals.
Scientists believe that the virus that caused the epidemic spread among people due to the Chinese tradition of consuming meat from wild animals, including unprocessed ones.
Covid-19
Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization on December 31, 2019 about cases of unknown pneumonia in Wuhan in the central part of the country (Hubei province). Experts identified the cause of the disease – a new type of coronavirus. WHO recognized the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern and gave the disease the official designation Covid-19. On March 11 the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) then announced the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of today, more than 248 thousand people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus, 10,048 patients have died of the disease and 88,471 have recovered from it.
