Pets cannot be a source of COVID-19 infection

4 years ago | Posted in: Articles, COVID-19 | 283 Views

In these crucial circumstances when millions of people around the world are affected by COVID-19, there are concerns about the transmission of this virus from animals to humans. Apparently, COVID-19 spread from the Wuhan city by eating a bat species. ‘Every living being is at the risk of falling prey to coronavirus!’ This statement is no longer correct. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), pets are not at a risk of spreading the disease.

In the past, some coronaviruses that infect animals were able to infect humans and then spread between people, but this is rare. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are examples of zoonotic diseases caused by coronaviruses that originated in animals and then spread to humans. This is what is suspected to have happened with the virus that caused the current outbreak of COVID-19. It is believed that it transferred from a bat to human. However, the exact source of this virus is still under study. Public health officials and researchers are working hard to get to the root cause of COVID-19.

In early March, a Pomeranian dog in Hong Kong tested positive for corona virus. Since then, pet animals become that center of attention of the coronavirus conversation. This case raised the suspicions about possibility of pets being the part of the transmission chain of corona virus. The dog tested positive after remaining in contact with its owners who were sick with the virus. The dog wasn’t showing any clinical signs of the disease. To clear all the misconceptions, World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement stating “currently, there is no evidence that pets such as dogs and cats have infected humans with Covid-19”. There’s no evidence that dogs can spread the disease or that the disease can cause an animal to fall ill, the organization says, though future studies may bring new findings. Pomeranian dog in Hong Kong tested negative after staying in quarantine.

This is a relief for the pet owners as there is no evidence of pets being the carrier of corona virus. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the number of pets that have been abandoned by people, which is awfully sad. When the corona virus was a threat in China and daily death toll reached its peak, local officials of a village in Zhejiang province asked all residents to quarantine their pet animals and slaughtered all stray dogs on the streets. Another village in China made a similar rule at the end of January to kill animals to contain the spread of the virus.

Is it worth keeping your pets in isolation?

Yes why not? There is a scientific value in quarantining pets because it allows scientists to study animals and to observe how an animal relates to this disease.

However, it’s a good idea to follow a healthy hygiene practice around pet animals. WHO stressed pet owners to wash their hands with soap and water after touching pets. If owners are particularly concerned about having dogs around then they can use antiseptic wipes to clean their dog’s paws after they have had a walk outside but they should they should be careful as excess of everything bad, wiping too much can dry out a dog’s paws.

 

by: Abeer Arshad 

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