Representative image of a veterinarian holding a cat. – Reuters
Thiland scientists have established that cats can transmit COVID-19 to humans because a veterinarian had SARS-CoV-2 infection from a tabby cat, according to an article published in the scientific journal. Nature.
Studies show that cats transmit viral infection particles among other cats, but cases of transfer of cat-to-human infections are rare.
However, the first solid evidence in this case presented by the Thai team has added cats to the list of animals that may be a source of virus transmission.
Researchers say they have known about the possibility for two years, given the scale of the pandemic, the ability of the virus to spread among animals and close contact between people with cats.
The study “is an interesting case report and a great example of what good contact tracking can do,” the publication said citing virologist Marion Koopmans of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam.
The evidence is based on the case of a ten-year-old cat who sneezed in the face of a veterinarian, who wore a mask and gloves, but his eyes were uncovered, while he was given a swab for the test. of COVID-19. The cat tested positive after its owner and son, who was also infected, were taken to an isolation room in August.
After three days, the veterinarian developed symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, kidney, and cough, and then tested positive. The evidence that she was infected by cats was strong, as none of her close contacts developed COVID-19.
It was later confirmed by genetic analysis and identical genome sequencing as the veterinarian was infected with the same variant as the cat and its owners.