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Update on SARS-CoV-2 in Cats

Posted by Rachel Korman on 28 April 2020

New information is rapidly emerging regarding SARS-CoV-2 virus as a human pathogen. Coronaviruses have long been identified as animal pathogens, but as we know, not all coronaviruses are equal. There has been much alarmist reporting in the press recently about the risk of cats and SARS-CoV-2 with some reports advising all cats should be kept indoors.

It is important to reassure owners there have been NO cases of cat to human transmission. Three current reports involve isolated incidents of cats infected from humans one cat in Hong Kong, one cat in Europe and a tiger in New York Zoo. Considering human cases of Covid -19 number approximately 1.2 million cases and knowing the high density of cat populations in parts of Europe and Asia, it is extremely unlikely that cats represent an important source of infection to humans.

However, we should not remain complacent. Dr Rachel Korman (Specialist - Feline Medicine) has put together an article about recent updates on SARS-CoV (Novel coronavirus) in cats as of 27 April 2020 with links to a number of papers and background material. To read this article please click here.

Author:Rachel Korman
Tags:News