A new study has found that we can pass on Covid-19 to our pets.
We all know by now that we can transmit Covid to other people, but now it seems that we can give it to our cats and dogs as well.
New research shows that dogs and cats can be susceptible to the virus after 156 dogs and 154 cats from 196 households were tested in the Netherlands.
Out of these, six of the cats and seven of the dogs came back with positive PCR tests, while 31 cats and 23 dogs came back with antibodies in their system, meaning at some point they had Covid.
These researchers are now urging for all pet owners who contract Covid-19 to stay away from their pets while battling the virus.
While the animals don’t get sick like humans do from the virus, the fear now is that they could act as a “reservoir” and could be passed back to humans.
Dr Els Broens, from Utrecht University, said: “If you have Covid-19, you should avoid contact with your cat or dog, just as you would do with other people.
“The main concern, however, is not the animals’ health – they had no or mild symptoms of Covid-19 – but the potential risk that pets could act as a reservoir of the virus and reintroduce it into the human population.”
Thankfully, cats and dogs have not spread coronavirus to humans, so it is unlikely this is a big risk but still something to be cautious of.
Eight cats and dogs that came from one household with other animals that had tested positive were tested again to see if the virus was passed through animals, but they all came back negative.
The research was carried out by European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases but it is yet to be published in a journal.
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