Because the virus that causes COVID-19 has spread worldwide and has caused incredible damage, one group is largely saved – our cats and pet dogs.
But a frighteningly new preview has suggested that may not happen again; he found that a small number of animals that have developed heart issues are infected with the BARS7 version of SARS-CoV-2 that came out in the UK.
First, this preliminary study – not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal – shows that it is possible to link the heart problems of these animals to the virus from a small sample size. , so don’t despair about your furry friend’s chances just yet.
It does, however, warn veterinarians to look out for the virus in animals that show up with these symptoms, and provide another piece in the a very complex jigsaw puzzle that understands COVID-19.
The study was conducted by several veterinarians who focus on heart issues; late last year, they saw a dramatic increase in cases of a type of heart inflammation called myocarditis in both cats and dogs.
“We are reporting a sudden increase in the number of domestic dogs and cats diagnosed with myocarditis at the Department of Cardiology of the Ralph Medical Reference Center (RVRC), based on the outskirts of London (UK), between December 2020 and February 2021, with an unexpected increase in frequency from 1.4 to 12.8 percent, ”the team writes in their introduction, available on bioRxiv.
“This sudden increase in cases marked by the curve and timeline of human COVID-19 pandemic disease in the UK as a result of the B117 outbreak, starting in mid-December 2020, appeared to be peaking at the end of January 2021, before returning to the historic level. by mid-February 2021. “
Although we have only confirmed a limited number of COVID-19 cases in pets to date, none of the animals had classic COVID-19 symptoms such as moderate or respiratory digestion.
But the increase in cases of myocarditis, at least, is an interesting coincidence – the increase was only 18 animals in total, but it was 10 times larger than normal. All of the animals survived the problem.
The team also found that most owners and handlers of these sick pets had COVID-19 symptoms 3-6 weeks before their pets became ill, and some were positive for the disease.
“With this common understanding and simultaneous evolution of myocarditis in these pets and the B117 COVID-19 revolution in [the] UK, we decided to study SARS-CoV-2 infection in these animals, ”the team said.
The researchers collected blood, rectal, and nasal swabs from six cats and one dog, as well as just blood samples from two other cats and two dogs – testing the blood for coronavirus antibodies and the swabs for parts of the body. virus itself.
Five of the animals had communicated with the advanced case of COVID-19, but the rest were unknown.
All of the nasal swabs were found negative, but a low level of the virus was detected in two cats and one dog, and three other animals returned with good results for antibodies.
“More interestingly, considering that only the five animals from which owners or handlers were tested with COVID-19 positive laboratory, four were shown to be positive SARS-CoV-2,” the team writes .
Now, as we have already pointed out, this is a very small study, the paper has not yet gone through a peer review, and even the researchers urge it to be careful.
“We are a bit biased because we only see heart patients, and we only see the emergency ones,” lead author, RVRC cartographer Luca Ferasin, told The Keeper.
“We don’t want to spread unnecessary panic, especially because at the moment we have strong suspicions about moving from human to pet, but the opposite is not the case – and we don’t know this for sure. But veterinarians should be aware of this so they can start testing if they suspect a possible cause of COVID infection. “
Although we have seen outbreaks in other animals, such as millions of mines at fur farms across the U.S. and Europe and a mixed variety of zoo animals, very few recorded cases of COVID-19 have been recorded. in pets.
The researchers believe that this is the first report of an infection in cats or dogs of the British variant of the virus, which is an important finding in itself. Whether or not the variable causes heart issues in cats and dogs – we will need more information.
“There is an urgent need to accelerate and strengthen investigations and surveillance of animal diseases with highly transient changes such as British B117, South African B1.351 and Brazilian P.1 changes as part of the global response. to the ongoing complex -species COVID-19 pandemic, “the researchers conclude.
The introduction paper is available at bioRxiv.