Cats and dogs may catch COVID-19 from their owners, research claims

Nearly 22% of cats and dogs living in homes with coronavirus-infected people have become infected, Dutch scientists said referring to a study, the results of which were presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

Using a mobile veterinary laboratory, scientists have performed PCR testing and antibody testing on 156 dogs and 154 cats in homes where a family member has had COVID-19 over the past 200 days, The Guardian reported.

Testing showed active infection in six cats and seven dogs (4.2%), antibodies were found in 31 cats and 23 dogs (17.4%). All sick animals either did not have symptoms of coronavirus, or they were very mild. All pets who lived in the same house with the infected animals were also tested for the presence of a virus or antibody, but none of them was found to have a virus. This means that they did not pass SARS-CoV-2 to each other.

According to scientists, most likely, animals were infected from people, but there is no one hundred percent guarantee that pets could not be a source of infection.

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