The study, which is published in Veterinary Record, detected the virus last year in cats that developed mild or severe respiratory disease.
Investigators used a range of laboratory techniques to show that two domestic cats from households with suspected cases of COVID-19 were infected with SARS-CoV-2.
‘During the COVID‐19 pandemic in the UK, human‐to‐cat transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 occurred, where the infected cats developed mild or severe respiratory disease.’
“These findings indicate that human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with the infected cats displaying mild or severe respiratory disease.
Given the ability of the coronavirus to infect companion animals, it will be important to monitor for human-to-cat, cat-to-cat and cat-to-human transmission,” said lead author Margaret Hosie, PhD, of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.
Source: Eurekalert
