Report Shows Arizona Man Infected His Dog, Cat With COVID-19

By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- An Arizona antheral infected his canine and feline with the caller coronavirus, according to a caller lawsuit survey that researchers accidental is the archetypal successful the United States to usage genetics to papers specified transmission.

The proprietor wasn't vaccinated, did small to support his pets, and had houseguests who weren't vaccinated. The proprietor recovered from COVID-19 and some pets were asymptomatic. However, genetic testing showed that the owner, feline and canine each were infected with an identical strain of coronavirus, and the microorganism dispersed from the proprietor to either the canine oregon cat, oregon both, the researchers concluded.

They explained that the pets were confined to an flat and had small oregon nary accidental to beryllium exposed to the microorganism independently, truthful it's highly improbable that they infected their owner. Also, it was the pets' quality who exhibited COVID symptoms first.

The ongoing survey is 1 of 5 aviator studies nationwide examining COVID-19 successful animals, but it is the lone 1 to see genomic sequencing of the microorganism from some pets and owners.

"This lawsuit survey was the archetypal illustration we had from the task that demonstrated the likelihood of microorganism transmission from a favored proprietor to animals successful the household," said study writer Hayley Yaglom, an epidemiologist astatine the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) successful Flagstaff, Ariz.

To support their pets, owners should get vaccinated. If they bash get COVID-19, they should deterioration masks erstwhile they're astir their pets and not cuddle oregon buss them, oregon let them to lick their faces oregon slumber with them, Yaglom advised.

While it's not indispensable to wholly isolate from their pets, owners with COVID-19 symptoms should minimize interaction arsenic "best they can," Yaglom said successful an institute quality release.

As of Sept. 1, much than 180 dogs and cats person tested affirmative for coronavirus successful the United States, according to the researchers.

The survey was published Nov. 1 successful the diary One Health.

"This is simply a large illustration of utilizing genomics to summation quality astir pathogens," said David Engelthaler, manager of TGen's Pathogen and Microbiome Division. "This survey shows that we tin not lone usage genomics to assistance way COVID variants crossed the globe, but we tin besides usage this exertion to way nonstop transmissions and, successful this case, transmission from favored owners to pets."

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has much connected pets and COVID-19.

SOURCE: Translational Genomics Research Institute, Nov. 1, 2021