How worried should we be about animals spreading coronivirus? Arjan Stegeman from University Utrecht wrote an article about it.
Plenty of species are susceptible to infection, but during the pandemic only mink seem to have passed the virus on humans. But work is underway to try and minimise the risk that animals might pose. For instance, to prevent mink from becoming a reservoir, animals on infected farms have been culled. Moreover, surveys in cats and wildlife are being performed to estimate their infection rate.
NOCH is currently studying the potential role of cats in the spread of COVID. It’s working to establish the proportion of infected cats owned by human patients, to quantify direct and indirect transmission of the virus among cats, and to develop a mathematical model to examine the potential contribution of cats to sustained transmission of the virus among humans.
Results from such a study will be helpful for designing interventions to prevent the virus spreading in cats, should they be needed.
Read the article at theconversation.com.