Study finds cats susceptible to coronavirus, prompts WHO investigation

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a new study has revealed that cats can become infected with COVID-19 while dogs still remain immune to the disease. This discovery that was announced on April 8 has prompted the World Health Organization to claim that it will once again take a look at the possibility of transmission of the new coronavirus between humans and pets.

Dogs, pigs, chicken and ducks less vulnerable

According to reports, the study was published on the website of the journal Science and claims that ferrets can become infected with the coronavirus as well. The study also found that dogs, chickens, pigs, and ducks were less susceptible to the disease. The goal of the study was to find animals that were vulnerable to the deadly new coronavirus so that experimental vaccines could be tested.

As per reports, the deadly new coronavirus is believed to have spread from bats to humans and other than a few scattered reports of cats and dogs becoming infected, there has been no strong evidence that pets can be carriers of the coronavirus. On April 5 a tiger from the Bronx Zoo tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact with an infected zookeeper. The tiger had developed a dry cough and lost its appetite prompting zookeepers to test the tiger.

According to reports, on April 8 the WHO announced that it was closely working with partners in order to determine the role of pets in this global health crisis. While speaking at a press conference, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove reportedly claimed that she did not believe that animals were playing an active role in transmission but believes that they can be infected by infected humans.

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Coronavirus outbreak

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed over 88,505 lives worldwide as of April 9. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 209 countries and has infected at least 1,518,783 people. Out of the total infections, 330,590 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

(Image Credit Pixabay)

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