The entirety of last week was filled with frenzied fear and anxiety. Pet lovers worldwide were worried that they may have to lose their beloved cats and dogs to CoronaVirus. Even though the CDC and WHO reported that the chances of CoronaVirus infection in cats and dogs are below a single digit, things turned for worse on the 24th of February.
The first official case of a Dog showing symptoms of COVID19 appeared in Hongkong last week sending the global alarm on a ringing mode. WHO specialists and experts worldwide were surprised by the new development and the dog was immediately taken into a quarantine facility to understand the sudden change in the development.
Even though the research and knowledge about the Novel CoronaVirus are not much, there are certain traits and aspects about it that have been confirmed. Besides showing flu-like symptoms, the virus spreads through surface contact and droplets from nose, mouth, etc.
The dog that tested positive for COVID19 was owned by a CoronaVirus infected individual. Since the virus is known to survive on the surface of the body for quite some time, it was transferred on it from the infected person.
However since this specific CoronaVirus subtype cannot produce a similar effect on Cats and dog’s physiology, they either tend to die or transfer to another human individual where they can proliferate.
In Fact, based on the Hongkong Centre for Disease control, the dog who tested positive for COVID19 seemed to have no internal changes and only surface contamination. The virulent trait found on it was also a milder version.
Following the confirmed report from WHO, as a protective step, it has been advised to wash hands well with a germicidal wash every time one interacts with pets and the outside world. Besides the hand wash, pet owners have been advised to protect the cats and dogs with masks, regular cleanup with disinfectant and also minimize exposure to the outside world until things are under control.
The pandemic effect of COVID19 has reached most of the countries worldwide and the cases of infected individuals according to the reports received are over 85,000. However, experts worldwide have been repeatedly informing the public that cats and dogs do not need to be sacrificed or abandoned for the fear of the spread as the virus does not affect or spread to them.
