New Coronavirus: Companion Animal Concerns?

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/01/articles/animals/cats/new-coronavirus-companion-animal-concerns/

New Coronavirus: Companion Animal Concerns?
By Scott Weese on January 20, 2020

The recent reports of human-human transmission of the novel coronavirus that’s been identified in China certainly raise the stakes. While this virus still seems to be less transmissible and less virulent than its relative, the SARS coronavirus, it’s pretty early to have a lot of confidence in that. Lessons seem to have been learned from SARS but at the start of an outbreak it’s hard to predict too much.
What’s the companion animal spin?
Human infections were first linked to an animal market. That’s not surprising, since that’s how SARS started and lots of undiscovered coronaviruses are lurking in various animal species, especially bats. The fact that the outbreak was first linked to an animal market doesn’t mean the animals were the source, but it would make sense.
If that’s the case, it’s a bit optimistic for us to think that this virus would be able to infect only its host species and people.
Back to SARS…. we know that this virus can infect a few different mammals, including cats. When SARS was a problem in Canada, people that were exposed underwent voluntary household quarantine. With that, they were supposed to stay at home and away from family members. Yet, nothing was said about their animals. I could have been quarantined in my basement, away from my family, but still have had regular contact with my cat, who then could have had contact with the rest of the family (and if he was an indoor-outdoor cat, contact with other cats). Think what would have happened if SARS was able to establish itself in the feral cat population of a city like Toronto. It’s probably not transmissible enough between cats to do that, but we didn’t know that at the time. I remember emailing someone who was dealing with the SARS crisis in Ontario and the response basically was “Good point. Gotta go.” When you’re dealing with a crisis, something ancillary like that doesn’t make it high on your priority list. We wrote a commentary about this a little while later that got some attention, but I’m not sure there was much action.
That’s why we need to be proactive. For containment measures for SARS, this new coronavirus or any other new disease, we need to assume that multiple species can be affected until proven otherwise, and we need to act accordingly. That doesn’t necessarily need to be complex. It might just be making sure animal contact questions are asked along with human contact questions, that quarantine protocols consider to do with exposed animals and that quarantined individuals are kept away from animals. We did this for Ebola a few years ago and it took a lot of time to get it right.
Hopefully we don’t have to worry about it, but it’s better to plan ahead than try to catch up.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Tabitha111 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Adviser Group Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tabitha111 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: New Coronavirus: Companion Animal Concerns? Posted: January 21 2020 at 3:11pm
	https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/01/articles/animals/cats/new-coronavirus-companion-animal-concerns/ New Coronavirus: Companion Animal Concerns? By Scott Weese on January 20, 2020 The recent reports of human-human transmission of the novel coronavirus that’s been identified in China certainly raise the stakes. While this virus still seems to be less transmissible and less virulent than its relative, the SARS coronavirus, it’s pretty early to have a lot of confidence in that. Lessons seem to have been learned from SARS but at the start of an outbreak it’s hard to predict too much. What’s the companion animal spin? Human infections were first linked to an animal market. That’s not surprising, since that’s how SARS started and lots of undiscovered coronaviruses are lurking in various animal species, especially bats. The fact that the outbreak was first linked to an animal market doesn’t mean the animals were the source, but it would make sense. If that’s the case, it’s a bit optimistic for us to think that this virus would be able to infect only its host species and people. Back to SARS…. we know that this virus can infect a few different mammals, including cats. When SARS was a problem in Canada, people that were exposed underwent voluntary household quarantine. With that, they were supposed to stay at home and away from family members. Yet, nothing was said about their animals. I could have been quarantined in my basement, away from my family, but still have had regular contact with my cat, who then could have had contact with the rest of the family (and if he was an indoor-outdoor cat, contact with other cats). Think what would have happened if SARS was able to establish itself in the feral cat population of a city like Toronto. It’s probably not transmissible enough between cats to do that, but we didn’t know that at the time. I remember emailing someone who was dealing with the SARS crisis in Ontario and the response basically was “Good point. Gotta go.” When you’re dealing with a crisis, something ancillary like that doesn’t make it high on your priority list. We wrote a commentary about this a little while later that got some attention, but I’m not sure there was much action. That’s why we need to be proactive. For containment measures for SARS, this new coronavirus or any other new disease, we need to assume that multiple species can be affected until proven otherwise, and we need to act accordingly. That doesn’t necessarily need to be complex. It might just be making sure animal contact questions are asked along with human contact questions, that quarantine protocols consider to do with exposed animals and that quarantined individuals are kept away from animals. We did this for Ebola a few years ago and it took a lot of time to get it right. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about it, but it’s better to plan ahead than try to catch up.