A new study has revealed that cats and dogs have suffered from coronavirus after contracting it from humans. The alpha variant of the disease, which triggered a brutal wave of Covid last winter, spread rapidly throughout the world, it has now been found in pets.
Two dogs and four cats have had the alpha variant detected in their systems. As a result, the animals have suffered a severe myocarditis, which involves the heart muscle becoming inflamed, reports the daily-record.
Related news
Scientists have reported that humans are actually spreading Covid to their pets and not the other way around.
The study’s lead author, cardiologist Dr. Luca Ferasin, who works at the Ralph Veterinary Reference Center in Marlow, Bucks, said: «Our study reports the first cases of cats and dogs affected by the alpha variant of Covid-19.
«It highlights, more than ever, the risk of companion animals becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2.»
The variant, which is also known as B.1.1.7, spread widely across Kent in late 2020 and saw rapid spread across the UK in January this year. The higher potency of the strain meant that it quickly outgrew pre-existing forms of Covid.
Two of the cats and one dog were found with the variant after testing positive for PCR. Another dog and two more cats showed antibodies against the virus.
The pet owners also tested positive for Covid and the tests on the animals were up to six weeks after signs of heart disease appeared.
The owners had developed respiratory symptoms several weeks before their pets finally got sick too.
Dr. Ferasin added: «We also report atypical clinical manifestations characterized by serious cardiac abnormalities.
«This is a well-recognized complication in people affected by COVID-19, but has never before been described in pets. However, COVID-19 infection in pets remains a relatively rare condition and based on our observations it appears that transmission occurs from humans to pets, not the other way around.»
The study is the first to have identified the alpha variant in domestic pets and comes from the journal Veterinary Record.
American scientists discovered in June that domestic cats are more vulnerable to coronavirus than dogs.
They were analyzed around 750 animalsand the findings revealed that eight per cent of cats carried Covid antibodies compared to less than one per cent of dogs.
Experts fear that pets could act as a «reservoir» for the virus, spreading it back to humans even after it has been cleared from populations.