Cats susceptible to virus, but unlikely to pass it to humans
Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are less vulnerable, according to pre-print study
NEW DELHI: Ferrets and cats are susceptible to contracting coronavirus (Covid-19) but not dogs, ducks, chickens and pigs, a nonpeer reviewed study published in bioRxiv has found and said these findings can be important for vaccine and antiviral drug development for the disease. BioRxiv is a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in life sciences.
There is, however, no reason for panic among pet keepers or cat lovers because the findings are based on only lab experiments, and there has been no study on whether cats can pass on the infection to humans. It is also unclear which species of cats was used for the study.
According to the authors Hualan Chen et al, the experiments were conducted to understand how the virus behaves in animals and which among them can be used to model the efficacy of control measures in humans like drugs or vaccines.
The authors are scientists affiliated to Harbin Veterinary Research Institute (China), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and National High Containment Laboratory for Animal Diseases Control and Prevention (China).
Animals studied were inoculated and the viral RNA load was quantified from organs of those euthanised and faeces of animals isolated.
“In summary, we found that ferrets and cats are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 [which causes Covid-19], dogs have low susceptibility, and livestock including pigs, chickens, and ducks are not susceptible to the virus. Ferrets have frequently been used as an animal model for the study of human respiratory viruses. Unlike influenza viruses and other human SARS-coronavirus, which replicate in both the upper and lower respiratory tract of ferrets, we found SARS-CoV-2 only replicates in the nasal turbinate, soft palate, and tonsils of ferrets,” the study concluded.
But its too early to conclude whether cats can contract the infection in natural conditions (non-experimental) and whether they can infect humans.
Dr Nivedita Gupta, a viral diseases expert at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said some animals will be susceptible to the virus and that is how animal models are created for research on vaccines. “But to jump to the conclusion that they can infect pet owners and humans is not right. We have domestic cats in India which can be very different from the cats in China. First, we need to understand what is the spill over point to cats there. Such spill overs happen due to zoonotic interface between humans and wild animals. In the SARS epidemic also we saw that civet cats were a reservoir of the virus. Nobody keeps civets as pets.”
Some media reports have suggested that even dogs can be infected. Bloomberg carried a report on March 19 saying two dogs tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong.