A veterinarian collects a sample from an 8-year-old cat to test for infection with the new coronavirus in Manhattan, New York, USA. Courtesy of Reuters/Yonhap News
In Thailand, the first case of infection with a novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in a cat has been reported.
The international scientific journal Nature reported on the 29th (local time) that a research team from the Medical School of Prince Songkhla University of Thailand reported the first clear evidence that a pet cat transmitted COVID-19 to humans in the international scientific journal ‘New Infectious Disease’.
“It is surprising that it took such a long time to identify such cases, given the scale of the COVID-19 infection, the ability of the virus to spread between animal species, and the close contact between cats and humans,” the researchers said.
Early research on the spread of COVID-19 has confirmed that cats can spread contagious virus particles and infect other cats. During the global pandemic, dozens of pet cats infected with COVID-19 were reported from around the world. However, it is not easy to determine whether the virus is transmitted from cat to person or from person to cat.
Marion Koopmans, a professor at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said, “It seems to be a study that confirmed the transmission route of the virus well.” He said, “It is an interesting case.”
According to the research team, after the father and son who tested positive for Corona 19 were transferred to the quarantine ward of Songkhla University Hospital, it was confirmed that the pet cat of the father and son who was 10 years old also tested positive for Corona 19. A cat sneezed in the front of the veterinarian’s face while wearing a mask and gloves but not wearing face and eye protection while the veterinarian was examining the cat.
Three days later, the veterinarian showed symptoms of fever, runny nose and cough, and the result of the COVID-19 diagnostic test was positive. As a result of examining all close contacts of the veterinarian, no one was infected with COVID-19, so the research team found that the virus genome was analyzed as a result of genetic analysis of the corona 19 virus infected by the cat who sneeze into the veterinarian’s face, the rich man who owned the cat, and the corona 19 virus infected by the veterinarian. It was confirmed that the nucleotide sequences were identical. In the end, it was concluded that the veterinarian was infected with the pet cat.
The researchers said that cases of transmission of COVID-19 from cats to humans are rare. This is because it is known that the period for a cat infected with COVID-19 to shed enough virus to spread to humans and other animals is relatively short. However, it said that adequate protective equipment and precautions are required when handling a cat suspected of being infected.
According to previous studies, other animals that transmit COVID-19 to humans include minks, pet hamsters, and wild white-tailed deer. Cats are also added here. “It is very rare that these animals infect humans, and it is clear that infected people are still the main source of transmission,” the researchers said.
