Scientists have recognized the primary obvious case of a human catching Covid from a cat.
A brand new examine documented proof {that a} vet in Thailand contracted the virus from an contaminated pet cat final yr.
Earlier analysis has proven cats shed infectious virus particles and may infect different felines, however that is first documented case of suspected cat-to-human transmission.
The examine was written by scientists at Thailand’s Prince of Songkla University and outlined how the invention took place accidentally.
In August 2021, a father and son who had examined constructive for Covid had been taken by ambulance to an isolation ward on the college hospital. For causes which are unclear, the pair introduced their 10-year previous cat with them.
When the lads had been admitted to the hospital, the cat was despatched to a veterinary hospital for an examination. While being swabbed, the cat sneezed within the face of a veterinary surgeon, who was sporting a masks and gloves however no eye safety.
Days later, the veterinarian developed signs and subsequently examined constructive for Covid, however none of her shut contacts appeared to contract the an infection.
Genomic sequencing confirmed that the cat and all three folks had been contaminated with an similar model of the virus, which was not widespread within the native inhabitants on the time.
“The identical Sars-CoV-2 genome sequences obtained from patient A and the sequences derived from the cat and its 2 owners, together with the temporal overlapping of the animal and human infections, indicated that their infections were epidemiologically related,” the authors of the paper wrote.
“Cats are known to be susceptible to Sars-CoV-2 infection … Because infected cats have relatively short incubation and contagious periods, this cat probably had acquired its Sars-CoV-2 infection no longer than a week before possibly transmitting the disease to patient A.
“In summary, we have provided evidence that cats can transmit the Sars-CoV-2 infection to humans. However, the incidence of this transmission method is relatively uncommon.”
The paper was revealed within the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
Dr Scott Weese, an infectious illnesses veterinarian on the University of Guelph in Ontario, mentioned the analysis makes a robust case for cat-to-human transmission.
Source: www.impartial.co.uk