Don't be afraid of cats and dogs
Domestic cats and dogs do not transmit coronavirus to humans
Ministry of Education and Science of Russia
This conclusion was made by a group of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Don State Technical University (DSTU) and Rostov State Medical University. In the article "Coronavirus infections of animals: future risks for humans", published in the first issue of 2021 of the journal "Izvestia RAS. Biological series", scientists are considering the possibility of participation of domestic animals in the transmission chain of emergent, that is, without visible external prerequisites, coronavirus infections. According to the authors of the article, there is not yet a sufficient evidence base to assert that small pets can be involved in the occurrence of infection and its transmission to humans.
The scientific group draws attention to the fact that immediately after the outbreak of a new coronavirus infection in December 2019, research began in the city of Wuhan in the Chinese province of Hubei to study the reaction of various pets to this virus. Some scientists have hypothesized that small pets, in particular cats, may be involved in the transmission pathways of SARS-CoV-2.
"We consider it necessary to point out the unnatural nature of the process of infection of SARS-CoV-2 cats in experimental studies, since the probability of real conditions under which an extremely large dose of a viral pathogen will be injected directly intranasally is extremely low," said Alexey Ermakov, Dean of the Faculty of Bioengineering and Veterinary Medicine at DSTU.
According to him, the reaction of any animal to a human viral pathogen, excluding the participation of this animal in the transmission chain, indicates only the similarity of molecular and biochemical processes in the two organisms. This also makes it possible to use an animal as a potential model object for studying ways to influence a human viral infection.
The authors of the scientific publication admit the possibility of infection of representatives of the feline family with a new CoV due to the similarity of the molecular structure of the receptor target of this virus. But, scientists believe, this can happen only in conditions of very close and repeated contact with an infected person, when the total titer of the virus transmitted by airborne droplets reaches values close to those obtained in experimental modeling. However, in real conditions, the chance of such a confluence of circumstances is unlikely.
"We are convinced that if the infection of SARS-CoV-2 cats is confirmed, then these animals will be a biological dead end for this virus. That is, cats will no longer be able to transmit the virus to humans. For 18 years, the scientific literature has not described a single confirmed case of the spread of SARSCoV by cats among regional populations, and even more cases of reverse transmission of this infection to humans. We also believe that in order to discuss the fact of carrying SARS-CoV-2 and its transmission by cats, it is critically necessary to conduct a full–scale cohort clinical trial, moreover, blind and randomized, which will exclude the influence of the human factor on the results," the publication says.
Scientists also note that dogs are not involved in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, even the possibility of their carrier as a biological dead end is extremely unlikely.
"For several months of the pandemic, no SARS-like CoV has been identified in dogs in Hubei Province and no antibodies to these viruses have been detected. In view of the facts mentioned above, we are convinced that dogs are not involved in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and even the possibility of their carrier as a biological dead end is extremely unlikely," the article says.
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